Mr. Speaker, those are all very nice figures, except when it comes to water plants, there is no dedicated money for them. If we take a look at areas like Cape Breton Regional Municipality and Sydney, Nova Scotia, the cost of putting in a water plant is the exact same amount as the entire municipal budget for one year. It is $625 million.
While the member talks about money being available, there is a $440-billion infrastructure deficit in this country, 60% of which is controlled by and under the responsibility of municipalities. Putting in an extra $5 billion is a drop in the bucket. The trouble is, because we are talking about clean drinking water, it is not drinkable water that is going into that bucket.
We need an infrastructure plan that deals with small towns and water supplies, we need it critically and we need it immediately. None of the programs that were just listed address that issue. Transit money does not build water plants. Housing money does not build water plants. Only water money, money identified for water services, will get the job done.
Why did the last budget not include a penny of funding for water supplies?