Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen.
First, I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities for this invitation.
The Fédération québécoise des municipalités was founded in 1944. It now represents close to 1,000 local municipalities and regional county municipalities, or 7,000 elected representatives.
We constantly defend municipal autonomy, and we work to further regional development. In large part, our federation represents municipalities of fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, as well as rural regions. To give you an idea, Quebec has more than 900 municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents.
Concerning the update on infrastructure projects and the Investing in Canada Plan, the FQM today wishes to share its expectations and the priorities of Quebec municipalities.
For the small municipalities, the most important part of the first phase of infrastructure investments is the creation of the CWWF, the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund program.
Following the Canada-Quebec agreement concluded last July 5, 2016, the municipalities submitted requests under that program as of September 2, 2016. The program then became very popular. In less than three weeks, the requests submitted by the municipalities were so numerous that we had to stop project submissions.
More than 130 Quebec municipalities had their projects approved. Initially, the intent was that all of these projects be finished by March 31, 2018, at the latest. However, given the slowness of certain administrative processes, several municipalities were not able to begin their bid process before the summer of 2017. Consequently, at our annual general meeting of September 2017, we passed a resolution asking that the completion deadline for work that was eligible for reimbursement be postponed to March 31, 2019. That resolution also followed letters sent by the federal government indicating that it would place a 40% ceiling on the reimbursement of eligible expenses after March 31, 2018. Following these developments, the federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities postponed the project deadline to March 31, 2019 for 117 projects in Quebec.
It goes without saying that postponing the project deadline for CWWF projects explains why large sums were not been spent during the first phase. Making such large investments over such a short period of time poses major challenges for municipalities of less than 5,000 inhabitants. In addition, the modalities of the program mean that work done internally and work done by regional county municipality engineering services is not eligible. Consequently, the municipalities are obliged to call on external engineers, which is a costly situation for many remote areas and also leads to additional delays.
As to the second phase of infrastructure investment, we are still waiting for the signature of a bilateral agreement between Canada and Quebec. At a meeting of our board of directors last February, a resolution asking that bilateral agreements be finalized as quickly as possible was adopted. That resolution also asks that the new infrastructure programs broaden the scope of eligible expenses so as to meet the needs of municipalities, and not increase the accountability they require from them. However, the content of agreements signed in other provinces over the past weeks have done nothing to calm our fears.
As for the Green Infrastructure Fund, investments of $1.8 billion are planned in Quebec over the next 10 years. Moreover, it has been proposed that 45% of the overall amount be allocated to mitigating the effects of climate change. Consequently, less than 55% of the fund could be used for clean water and wastewater treatment projects.
Although the FQM considers it important to prepare municipalities for climate change, we must point out that Quebec's water infrastructure needs are considerable. By choosing to allocate 45% of Green Infrastructure Fund investments to mitigating climate change, the federal government is making an audacious gesture, but it will not meet the real needs of Quebec municipalities.
The federal government initiatives, like the new 2016 infrastructure plan and the 2017 Investing in Canada Plan, are without a doubt important measures to support municipalities in the achievement of their infrastructure projects.
We hope that the points we have brought to your attention today will allow you to better understand the issues and expectations of the municipal environment.
Once again, I thank you for having invited the FQM to express its views on this topic. Mr. Émond and I will be pleased to answer your questions.