Thanks, Chair.
Welcome to our witnesses. It's great to see former FCM board of tables director Garth. I have a question that I'm going to direct to him, as president of course.
When I was a mayor and president of the municipal sector provincially in Newfoundland and Labrador and a board member of FCM, one of our favourite topics of discussion, President Frizzell, was gas tax, what it could do for municipalities, and the importance of that fund as we roll it out and as we've seen for the past number of years.
During this pandemic, of course, our government has realized the impact it has on municipalities big and small, realizing that you guys have been on the front lines of the fight against COVID as well. Of course, because of that we've decided we're going to double the gas tax fund. It's an important contribution to municipalities.
Garth, if you could, I would like you to speak to the importance of this funding and the flexibility it provides to you and your organization for the needs of communities.