You say both governments were well aware of the deadline. I have never had the privilege of sitting in government in Ottawa or in Quebec, but I have had the privilege of working with both governments. I don't know whether it is accurate to say that governments are aware of all the issues.
I think it is important to point out that, if governments had not had the municipalities and if the municipalities had not made governments aware of their needs, you probably would not have found any projects to undertake, even with your own money. Even if you had set yourself up on a street corner with your own money, you probably would not have found any takers. You need the municipalities. The municipalities are the most critical level of government ever created by man. Indeed, it is that level of government that allows the other two to carry out their social or economic mandate. It is unthinkable that a hospital could be built in a field if there are no roads leading to it and no watermains and sewers to service it. The same applies to housing for the people who work in industry or in business.
Without the municipalities, your program would not have worked. There are some realities that you did not factor in when developing your timetable. The time it took for discussions between the federal and the various provincial governments, and particularly the Government of Quebec, cannot be attributed to us or subtracted from the time we need to complete the work.
The fact that elections would be held in Quebec in 2009 was known in advance. However, there were changes at the elected official level in more than 50% of municipalities. They began asking their own questions about the programs. And, it is natural for a new team to look at what the previous team has done and question whether or not it is the right decision. The majority of projects are going ahead, but that did created time-related issues.
With respect to the engineering work, in Quebec, asphalting generally stops in late October. If you do it all at once, laying a single coat, you are contravening the proper practices recommended by engineers. That means that it has to be completed before the end of October, thereby jeopardizing the quality of the work.
It is critical that the money be used as effectively as possible. But not using the money effectively does not mean that you just keep telling people that they knew there was a deadline. Of course, people did know, as you have stated I don't know how many times. However, did you know it would be difficult to meet that deadline? That is what I am trying to explain.