Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and his support for today's motion.
He recognizes the importance of the motion, or the importance of transparency, as it were. To invest in the provinces and municipalities, it is important to know what the plan is and where the money is coming from.
Since we agree on the motion, I want to talk about something else that bothers me quite a bit. When I was a mayor, there was many a time when I had to wait for the federal government's final approval on projects.
Let me explain because people need to understand how this works. Indeed, the provincial government negotiates an agreement with the federal government. Then, the provincial government comes to an agreement with the municipalities and negotiates a joint approval of the projects. Then the list of projects is sent to the federal government. However, if a project does not align with the federal government's priorities it may be that its approval takes longer. That is the reality on the ground, and the municipalities and provinces are not happy about it. Final approval can be somewhat political.
That is why we are asking the Auditor General to get involved. Does the hon. member agree with how I see things?