Mr. Speaker, I listened to the question from my colleague opposite about unspent infrastructure money, which we know is a significant problem.
For the last two years, most of the major cities in this country, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Mississauga, Montreal, and Halifax, have received no dollars in new federal infrastructure commitments. The money was largely unspent. It is one of the ways in which the faux balancing process of the previous government was achieved. One-time money from the sale of GM, unspent infrastructure money, and voila, there is a balanced budget in October, but come March, it does not quite work out.
Is my colleague aware that unspent infrastructure money in this budget will be flowed directly back to municipalities through the gas tax? This is a unique achievement in so far as the money committed now must be spent. Those provinces that are not stepping up to the plate and partnering will see their cities funded instead as a result of their lack of co-operation or lack of progress on these files.
It is a unique component in infrastructure funding. It will top up the gas tax money on a one-time basis, and will really be a game changer for municipalities across this country which will no longer have money promised and not delivered, as was the previous government's practice.