—and it is not the New Democrats. I can assure her of that.
Even during the 1990s when the Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien team balanced the books, were able to guarantee health care funding and ultimately built sustainable long-term health care, we still invested in infrastructure. We can talk about the Wellness Institute and others. There were many different infrastructure projects that went ahead.
To answer the specific question from the member, we need to recognize that many of the municipalities do not have anywhere near the tax base it would take to bring up their infrastructure to the degree that they would be able to perform at peak. We could say an infrastructure project is needed in a small rural community, but in order to get to another community, we have to go through that community. It is not just the immediate community that benefits. The broader community benefits even if there is a smaller investment in a smaller community. It is about economic development.
The Liberal Party has consistently looked at infrastructure investment as a way to not only achieve economic improvement but also facilitate social improvement and many other improvements as a direct response to investing in infrastructure.