Merci, Monsieur le Président.
Welcome, Mr. Mayor. It's a pleasure to have you with us and to have your excellent presentation in front of us on this particular subject. As an ex-mayor myself, and having dealt with many municipal projects, I understand the concern you have here. I really appreciate that you've articulated it in the fashion you have in front of the committee today.
I was very concerned about a year ago when I heard the finance minister say on television that he would take back some of the infrastructure money through the gas tax if projects weren't completed. That has been modified somewhat now, so we're just dealing with a situation where the government is suggesting that any work not completed, the remaining work, will be under that kind of duress. But your points are well taken that there are many extenuating circumstances that can impact on projects in municipal works.
I think of a project I initiated as mayor to do some horizontal boring to put in a new water supply line in the community. The best company in the country with the best engineers did not understand the situation and failed in their attempt. We had to go back to the project the next year. So with all good intentions, projects at the municipal level--because they're dealing with many situations, and many factors affect how the project proceeds--need to have some flexibility.
Your presentation was excellent. I don't know how to add to what you've said here. Do you have any more anecdotal evidence that you'd like to bring forward at this time about projects in Quebec, so we can perhaps impress on the committee the type of situation...?