Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would just like to provide some clarification. First of all, I would like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Jean, who gave us an opportunity to have this debate, and I also want to thank the Conservative Party. It's important to give credit where credit is due, and he was interested in finding out what was going on.
I would like to come back to some of Mr. Généreux's comments with respect to the MRIF. The MRIF is a completely different program. It was introduced by the Liberals, and the Conservatives then invested more money in it. But what we are talking about is a one-time, “canned” and time-limited program, whereas the MRIF was over five years. In that case, there were specific deliverables.
Obviously, asking for a contribution from Quebec municipalities, which are already carrying 84% of the municipal debt in Canada, in the midst of an economic crisis, is already asking for quite a lot. I understand that some municipalities just did not want to go into debt, but others did take risks because they had specific needs. It is no accident that there is an infrastructure coalition: there are needs in that area and Quebec municipalities have some of the oldest infrastructure in Canada, something we must not forget.
Your Worship, you mentioned that new projects could be started, but I don't think that will be possible. In any case, announcements have already been made. Municipalities which were part of the program found that out when the announcement was made. They learned of this in December and they now have to complete the work before December. They are ready to accept that, but the problem is that their engineers or contractors cannot guarantee the result. They went into action to get the economy going and because monies had been earmarked for Quebec. However, what could well happen now is that the money will go back into the government's coffers and the municipalities will end up with a larger debt. Is that correct?