Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), on November 6, 2007, the Prime Minister announced the details of the $33 billion building Canada infrastructure plan, which includes the $8.8 billion building Canada fund that will be invested in clean water and sewage treatment infrastructure, the core national highway system, public transit, green energy, and sport facilities among other categories of infrastructure. The Government of Canada has already identified and announced publicly a number of priorities for funding across the country, one of which is the Centre of Sport Excellence in Calgary. All details of the building Canada plan and its components, as well as all announcements pertaining to agreements and projects, are found on the Prime Minister’s website as well as Infrastructure Canada’s website.
In response to (b), the building Canada Fund has two components in each jurisdiction: the major infrastructure component, and the communities component. Under the major infrastructure component, projects are to be negotiated between the different levels of government. The Government of Canada has already identified a number of priorities for funding across the country, including the Centre of Sport Excellence in Calgary. This priority announcement indicates that the Government of Canada will consider funding this project, once a framework agreement has been signed with Alberta and conditional on the project meeting all applicable federal eligibility requirements under the building Canada fund.
Under the communities component, only Nova Scotia has submitted a first round of applications to date. Since sports infrastructure was not among the target areas for the province on this first call for proposals, no projects for sports infrastructure were put forward. No other province or territory has launched the communities component application process yet, which may only take place once a framework agreement with Canada has been signed.
In response to (c), please refer to part (b).
In response to (d), please refer to part (b).
In response to (e), please refer to part (b).