It's almost always safe to say that no matter what the federal government is doing in this department, they start off with the safety and security of Canadians as the number one priority, whether we're talking about the long-term investments on improving security systems at airports and other transportation systems, improved environmental outcomes for other modes of transportation, ship-to-shore power, the emission exclusion zones on both coasts, the new arrangements on the Great Lakes when it comes to improving air quality and emissions standards, and so on. We start with safety and security as our number one priority, and then we get into environmental concerns and trying to improve the outcomes there.
Of course, on the Infrastructure Canada side, it's already been noted that they've done stellar work on not only getting the money out the door as quickly as the bills come in--and we can't do it more quickly than that--but as the bills come in we get that money out tout de suite.
We do an incredible job of evaluating these projects right up to the last minute. All members of Parliament gave me their last-minute projects and asked if I could get this done in the last couple of weeks. Just to assure people, as long as they came in ahead of the cut-off, those projects are being considered. We still have a handful to give the yea or nay to.
So the allocation of the funding goes to everything from soup to nuts. But it starts out with safety and security. On the transport side it moves into environmental protection and improvements, and on the infrastructure side it's just simply trying to get this money out as quickly as possible and urging the provinces as we....
The only thing I would add to your earlier comments is that proponents who want to take advantage of this extension should be sure to look at the rules. This isn't just a blank cheque. You have to fulfill certain things to get the seven-month extension. You have to let us know about the project. So don't just show up on March 31 and hope for the best. Go on the website and get that done.