There's been some talk about the 2¢ a litre gas tax, how that's being allocated, and what it's being used for. I wasn't a member of Parliament here when it was first devised by the federal government and the agreements were entered into. To the best of my knowledge, it was the Federation of Canadian Municipalities that made the argument for as much flexibility as possible in how they could spend that 2¢. It was not just for public transit and not just for roads. They wanted flexibility.
Then, as I understand it, in the case of the province of Ontario, where I'm from, the provincial Liberal government there actually didn't allow as much flexibility. They made it very clear with their portion that it was to be spent specifically on public transit, on roads and that type of infrastructure, because it's gas tax money.
Do you believe we should be tightening at the federal level what we allow municipalities to spend that 2¢ a litre on? Should it be directly focused on public transit and transportation-related costs so there's some accountability back? Or should we continue along the lines we are now, where there's a lot more flexibility? Maybe it can be used to build or subsidize a community centre or a recreation program or something different.
Should we be tightening that up a little to make sure that the federal contribution is going specifically to public transit and transportation infrastructure?