Thank you very much, and it's good to be here, especially as I have two of my favourite mayors presenting today: my mayor, Linda Hepner, and my dear friend Derek Corrigan as well. Both are recently elected, so congratulations to both of them.
I have a question first for Mayor Hepner. I don't think it comes as a surprise—we have been talking about this for the last number of years—that the City of Surrey is in dire need of infrastructure development, especially when it comes to public transit. We're a city that is fast growing, and we're also a city that is surrounded by bridges. Often in the morning and in the late afternoon and evening, we are in a gridlock. Because of that, I think the timeliness of the projects and getting things moving now is really critical.
We're hearing from cities across the country that they need money for big transit projects now, and that the back-loaded funds provided through the new public transit fund in budget 2015 don't actually address the current needs.
For me, specifically for Surrey, is there an immediate need for transit funding in Surrey or would you consider the back-loaded funds, which will only come two years from now, enough to improve Surrey's ability to meet ongoing transportation challenges? Also, can you comment further on the importance of getting transit infrastructure money out of the door now for big transit projects in cities like Surrey?