Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm not sure what to make of that last round of questioning.
We have plenty of love for you, Mr. Coderre, as I look across the way.
Minister, Minister of State, thank you for appearing here before our committee on the main estimates. You may want to talk a little bit about the Detroit River international crossing. You brought it up in your comments. Looking back at the timetable on this issue—I've been tracking it for quite a while—it's an issue of great importance locally. As the Prime Minister said in Windsor a number of years ago, it's the number one infrastructure priority of the government.
In 2006, we established the gateways and border crossings fund. In 2007, there was a line item in the budget for $400 million as a down payment toward the eligible capital costs for the Windsor-Essex Parkway, now called the Rt. Honourable Herb Gray Parkway. It was in 2009 that we acquired some land in the Brighton Beach area for the Canadian inspection plaza. That was an expenditure of about $34.1 million. In 2011, the parkway construction began. The year 2012 was a real turning point. There was the interlocal agreement between our government and the State of Michigan in June of that year. There was the defeat of Proposal 6 on the U.S. side, which was important. And there was the bridge to strengthen trade act in Bill C-45 last year. So a lot has been happening.
I notice in the estimates there is an increase with respect to land acquisition and the Detroit River international crossing. Do you care to comment on that? I'll have more detailed questions for your officials later on some of the specific numbers—about how many acres and things like that—but in a general sense, can you indicate whether this is for expected purchases on the Canadian side, the U.S. side, or both?