Madam Speaker, the hon. member says that the money from the infrastructure program does not reach western Canada. In British Columbia alone there was $2 million for the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, as an example, promoting economic support and growth in that area. The fact is that the UBCM, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, has been a long-time supporter of this program.
Yes, one of the difficulties is of course that we have to make agreements with each of the provinces. If the hon. member is not happy with some of these agreements maybe he should talk to the governments of the day, but the fact is that we are getting money into cities and communities because they are municipally driven. We did not propose the Vancouver exhibition. We did not propose to put money in Kitimat or in Kamloops. It was the governments of those municipalities that put forth sewer, water, bridge and other projects that they believe are important.
There is one thing I want to make clear. The opposition continues to say long term funding, and yes, we now have long term funding. We have a 10 year program which the Federation of Canadian Municipalities asked for. We have delivered. We have put our first down payment on this and we are going to leverage that.
I would like the member to respond. How can he say with a straight face that the moneys are not going to western Canada when western Canada has benefited? This is not an east-west or north-south issue. It is a Canadian issue. We have embraced the national infrastructure program. It is only in the last couple of weeks that our friends across the way have even been able to spell the word infrastructure. I am delighted that they have finally come to the table.