As you know, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has been looking for every level of government—federal, provincial, and municipal governments—to work together. They have been asking for predictable long-term funding, some of which should be designated, so it's not application-based, so it is predictable. All of that is clear. FCM has also asked that it not be mandatory that municipalities have to go through the P3—public-private partnership—screens in order to get the funding if the project is a bigger size.
So really there are three questions. First, what is the best way for the federal government to work with your organization and the municipalities that you represent? Second, if small municipalities have to go through the P3 screening, what kind of hardship would that create? Because smaller municipalities may not have the money to go and find a private partner. Is that a problem? Third, when we all end up at FCM at the end of May, is there a committee that really should examine these issues? Would it be the infrastructure committee, the standing committee, or maybe the municipal financing committee, so we can work together with other municipal leaders across the country to achieve the goal that FCM is pushing for?
Sorry for the long questions. It's three questions in one.