Thank you.
That was the backdrop to the discussions we had both prior to getting into government in 2015 and in the early days as we considered the Canada Infrastructure Bank. We recognized that with a growing population, the importance of ensuring we have the capacity to continue to live a prosperous life with strong infrastructure, we were going to need to escalate the amount of investment in infrastructure.
We knew that putting in place the Canada Infrastructure Bank wouldn't crowd out private investment. In fact, it would “crowd in” private investment—increase the amount of investment. We saw the possibility of getting five dollars of private investment for every dollar of investment from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Moreover, investment in infrastructure has what they call a positive multiplier effect on growth in the Canadian economy. We saw that as a win-win-win: a win for Canadians having better infrastructure; a win for the investors; and, of course, a win for the economy with the growth that comes out of those investments—a very positive outcome in all regards.