Thank you, Madam Chair.
Welcome, guests.
I'm going to focus my questions around the infrastructure program. The bilateral agreement signed between the federal government and each of the provinces and territories clearly outlines that the federal government is willing to support small communities with even greater levels of funding. Coming from small-town Newfoundland and Labrador, I truly appreciate that.
For towns with less than 5,000 people, we have committed to covering the majority of the municipal share of costs under the rural and northern funding stream. This leaves small towns responsible for only 7% of the total cost of the project, which is significantly more affordable than 33%.
Can you elaborate on why we have taken this approach? What are the objectives for increasing the share of the cost?
Do we monitor these agreements to ensure that all partners are living up to the conditions of the agreements?