Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to say thank you to our witness for coming today.
I understand that one of my former council colleagues--he served a different municipality--Jordan Bateman, has joined your organization. Certainly he has spoken to me a few times about some of the different challenges the municipalities have, so you have a great advocate on the west coast.
My questions today are related more towards the study that we've been developing. A number of issues that have been brought up are specific to infrastructure. I was hoping you could answer a couple of questions. Based on your earlier speech, I think I have the general tone, but I'd still like some basic answers from your organization's viewpoint.
Organizations such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Urban Transit Association have called for the federal government to dedicate an additional cent of excise tax towards a dedicated fund for transit capital investments. Would your group be supportive of this proposal?