Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, who I know had a distinguished career in municipal politics in the City of Windsor.
As a former municipal politician and a former president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, I want to emphasize very clearly that in 1983 the FCM proposed the national infrastructure program. It then lay dormant under the Conservatives until 1993, when this government picked it up.
We implemented the national infrastructure program. We placed $2 billion on the table. As the hon. member knows, we leveraged that money with the provinces, the municipalities and indeed the private sector. Not to stop with that, in 1997 we renewed the program with another $425 million, leveraging again, through the Canada Infrastructure Works Program, to stimulate over $8.3 billion in municipal investment.
The hon. member said that this budget ignored cities. Not only did it not ignore cities, it went beyond what any government in the history of this country has done with regard to cities.
Let me quote the FCM's president from March 5: “FCM has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the Government of Canada. Many specific initiatives come to mind. The first Canada Infrastructure Works Program in 1994, support for the homeless, renewed and expanded funding for affordable housing, the groundbreaking green municipal funds, which were recommended by the FCM, the creation of a caucus task force to look at the state of our cities, and the rural secretariat all testify to a record of collaboration with Canada's municipal governments”. That is from the president of the FCM, John Schmal.
I point out to the hon. member that for years, when I was FCM president and before I was president, municipalities asked for a 10 year program in infrastructure and this government delivered. How can one suggest for a moment that we ignored cities in the last budget: homeless, health care, universities, R and D, research, infrastructure. Of course we have a down payment, as the minister said, on infrastructure. There is $100 million this year and it will be increased every year, and we expect our provincial partners to come to the table. As that Ontario member knows, it is the provincial Government of Ontario that has not been at the table. One would have to ask why it was so silent on cities when it came to its budget. It was absolutely dead silent.
This government makes no apologies for our work with cities. We continue to work with our municipal colleagues. I will tell members that I am very proud, not only as a former FCM president but as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, to note that we have listened to cities. We are going to continue to do so.
With that member's help, we are going to make sure that even though cities are under section 92 of the Constitution, and are the creatures, a word I hate, of the provinces, we are going to work collaboratively with them because it is in the best interests of all Canadians.
I appreciate the member's question.