Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
My question is for the director of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
As Mr. Bachrach said earlier, the Minister of Transport mentioned that bus transportation was a provincial jurisdiction. However, when it comes to public transit and infrastructure funding, there are agreements between the federal government and the provinces, particularly Quebec. Moreover, the investing in Canada plan, a bilateral infrastructure agreement between Canada and Quebec, was signed in 2018 by the federal government. This agreement provides for money to be made available to the Government of Quebec, particularly for public transit projects. So we're not just talking about infrastructure, but also infrastructure for public transit. This includes several phases.
During the testimony of Minister LeBlanc, the committee learned that the first phase of the agreement provided $350 million, but that it had not been invested. According to the agreement, this money could be used for subsequent phases. Unfortunately, Mr. LeBlanc told us that he would simply not respect the agreement and that the $350 million would go back into the consolidated fund. The reason I mention this is because $290 million of the $350 million was for public transit.
The Union des municipalités du Québec campaigned to demand that these funds be given to Quebec, as agreed to in the agreement that was signed.
Currently, there is an additional $2.7 billion in infrastructure, including infrastructure for public transit, that is at risk.
Does the Federation of Canadian Municipalities support the Union des municipalités du Québec in its fight to ensure Quebec gets the money it was promised?