Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, I do have the facts. One fact is very clear: funding starting in 2010 is not going to do a whole lot for the people of London to address the infrastructure problem they have right now.
According to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the 2006 budget renewed existing infrastructure programs and extended to four years a $1.3 billion fund dedicated to transit. The 2007 federal budget committed the federal government to a four year extension of the federal gas transfer at the 2009 level, for a total of $8 billion in new predictable funding.
That budget included $8.8 billion over seven years for the new building Canada fund, which replaces the old municipal rural infrastructure fund, but the 2007 budget only allows 14% of the money desperately needed by our cities. That is money stretched over seven years. Our cities are in trouble. We need help.