Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Maheux, thank you for all your proposals. I take very good note of them. I have listened carefully and we will see if we are able to incorporate as many as possible in the report that the committee will produce.
Mr. Côté, from the Union des municipalités du Québec, I may have a trick question for you. From what I understand, Mr. Maheux, other witnesses and you mentioned that it was important for the federal government to fund not just infrastructure, but also operating expenses. This is something that the public transit companies often tell us.
Some of the witnesses have come before us with an interesting question that I would like to hear your thoughts on. Not so long ago, a witness told us that investments in intercity transport were certainly an important subject of study, but that in terms of public or mass transport, we should first invest in the type of transport that someone needs in their daily life. We can think, for example, of transport to get to work, to school or to the hospital. This witness said that it was local transport that would be his priority.
As president of the UMQ and mayor of a regional city, what do you think of this statement? There are other means of transport that exist. We can think of the Quebec government's famous high-frequency train project, train transportation, which also goes to your region, air transportation, which is a major problem in the region, and bus transportation.
If you were given $1 billion, what would be your priority and where would you put the money first?