Montreal  Mr. Speaker, on May 17, 1642, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve founded the colony of Ville Marie near the Mohawk village of Hochelaga, or Tiohtià:ke, on the island of Montreal. Today, I am honoured to celebrate the anniversary of the city I grew up in and continue to discover every day.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her advocacy on behalf of small communities. Indeed, on this side of the House we took note and we put $2 billion into classical modelling of infrastructure in rural and northern communities and we plan to deliver on that promise. The assumption that the infrastructure bank will invest solely in large projects in large cities is false.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the location, while key to developing and working with our private proponents, is not of capital importance, insofar as we need to focus more on the historic infrastructure that we are making and the capital that we are freeing up in order to put forth our transformative infrastructure plans for Canadians.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, this bears repeating. The session with BlackRock last fall lasted only a few hours, but we spent hundreds of hours consulting stakeholders such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, the provinces and territories, indigenous peoples, academics, engineers, construction firms, and more.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, in-depth studies require consultation with many people, as I said earlier. I will not repeat myself. We must consult the private sector, which will make those investments. It is worth mentioning that the KPMG report, just one of the reports we saw and examined, stated that the Canada infrastructure bank will accelerate economic development and growth, create major national projects, and ensure quick decision-making, considering the development that Canada needs now and in the future.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, we value the expertise that those in the private sector can offer and thank those on the economic advisory council for their advice, for example. We have engaged a number of actors across the country, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, provinces, territories, indigenous peoples, engineers, construction firms, and more.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, we were elected on a promise to make historic investments worth $180 billion to build Canada for the 21st century. The session organized with BlackRock lasted just a few hours last fall, but we spent hundreds of hours consulting groups like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, the provinces and territories, academics, engineers, construction firms, and more.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, if we mobilize private sector dollars to build new infrastructure projects, our investments will generate more spinoffs while freeing up public funds to invest even more in priorities such as social housing, disaster mitigation, women's shelters, drinking water, and wastewater treatment.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, this is an important question to be asked. Indeed the infrastructure bank is an effort to leverage private capital in projects where we see fit. Again, let me remind the hon. member that these projects are put forward to us and these are projects that we will, through the infrastructure bank, examine and make the right choices for Canadians.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, we value the expertise that those in the private sector can offer and thank those people who have been giving us this input. If we are going to offer options to the private sector, we indeed need to consult these people and get their input and feedback as we put our best foot forward in how to leverage that private capital.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, we were elected on a platform to invest in a historic infrastructure plan, including developing an infrastructure bank. The infrastructure bank would engage private capital to build better public transit, energy transmission, trade corridors, and more across Canada.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her very good question. We committed to investing $2 billion in rural communities. That is a very important part of our plan. In addition, $500 million has been allocated to Internet service for rural and small communities. I want to emphasize that.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Obviously, we need to clarify the fact that the $180 billion is being allocated to a 12-year project. As the member well knows, the model agreements we will have with the provinces will vary from province to province, based on need.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for her advocacy for her community. I heard the passion with which she expressed her concern for development, particularly in social housing. These are needs in any city and most communities. In mine, for example, it is up to 30% or 40% in certain areas and boroughs.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would first like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe. It is an honour to stand in the House today to speak about the important work our government is doing to support our municipalities' infrastructure investments for the 21st century.