In terms of the timeframe, it is difficult to express that in terms of dates because some municipalities may need six months. For example, there are cases where a second coat of asphalt could only be laid the following spring when asphalting plants are operating again across the country. Others may need a little more time because the work they are completing now is more complex. I am thinking, for example, of a number of projects involving cultural centres, libraries, etc.
In fact, the appropriate standard should be that those projects which are underway and have advanced to a certain stage should be recognized and subsidized.
If you were to announce today that all projects submitted between now and the end of the month will qualify and be subsidized right up until the work is completed, a great many small municipalities who cannot afford to take the risk of having to absorb the difference in cost on their own would start projects immediately. They were ready to do that, but decided against it because they could not meet the requirements. In fact, the government could easily do that and it would not cost any more money. It would not exceed its budget envelope, which would be fully used. And that is what it was established for to begin with—to stimulate economic recovery.
In any case, at some point we will have no choice but to wipe out the very significant deficit that now exists in Quebec and Canada with respect to infrastructure maintenance.