Mr. Speaker, I compliment my colleague for his remarks, but at the same time I am confused about the fact that there was very little in his remarks about the fact that the Canadian Federation of Municipalities had stated that there was about $123 billion of infrastructure needs across this country.
I am a former Toronto city councillor. The city of Toronto is clearly experiencing pressures associated with the realities in regard to roads, buildings, bridges, schools, recreational facilities, sewage systems, inter-city transit, and the list goes on.
The mayor of the city of Toronto, David Miller, wrote to this particular Minister of Finance on February 13, 2008 about the need for a partnership with our cities. He talked about Toronto's pre-budget submission which included a call for a national transit strategy and an action plan on homelessness. What we have seen from this government, it has not delivered in this budget.
Maybe my colleague could comment, not just about Toronto's needs but really the infrastructure needs of cities because that is missing in this budget.