Well, I do have the data here and it is the total revenues, which is really the only number that matters. It does come from Stats Canada, and it does show that between 2001 and 2011 municipal revenues have grown by more than twice the rate of inflation and population growth combined. I'd be very pleased to share this data with you as well.
On the issue of closed tendering, though, we have a case in Hamilton, for example. I quote Peter Shawn Taylor, who is an editor-at-large at Maclean's magazine.
...eligible bidders for construction contracts in Hamilton [were] reduced by over 90 per cent. Of the 260 firms that had previously bid on city jobs, city staff calculated that only 17 were affiliated with the carpenters union.
The article goes on to point out estimates of increases between 20% and 40% for projects in Hamilton as a result. A similar problem is now emerging in Kitchener—Waterloo.
The FCM has been concerned about the difficulty municipalities have in funding their infrastructure. Why has the FCM not spoken out against this unnecessary price inflation that provincial policies are imposing on municipal governments?