Mr. Speaker, Canada's infrastructure program has been a great success in the riding of Peterborough. In the city and county it helped fund almost 100 valuable projects.
I urge the government to build on the experience of the first program to design another even better one.
For example, the new one might deliberately set out to bring in private sector funds. Or it might be designed differently in different parts of the country to meet special regional needs. Or again, special priority could be given to projects which create jobs for young people. Yet again, a portion of the funds could be reserved for special national projects such as research and development.
We need a new redesigned program that builds on the strengths of the national infrastructure program, and we need it soon. If provinces such as Ontario do not support it, the federal government and the municipalities should continue without them.