Madam Speaker, I would just like the member, with whom I debate all the time in the industry committee, to tell me that he believes it is better to transfer the money to the province of Quebec for the municipalities than for us to give it directly in the agreements we have now.
In the previous decade, time and time again the Government of Quebec downloaded items on to the municipalities so that their water, sewer and roads fell below standards. It stopped that and actually asked the municipalities to put up money instead of getting grants from the province. In 2000 it stopped taking money from the municipalities but it stopped paying its grants in lieu on utilities of about $400 million. So it was $386 million over three years and then $400 million thereafter.
If this is the type of treatment the municipalities would get from the province, why would we transfer the money to the province then to the municipality and not directly to the municipalities through the infrastructure program, which is what we are doing right now?