Transport committee  I'll ask Mr. Cluff to comment.

Transport committee  I honestly cannot comment on the details you mentioned, but I can tell you I've been deputy for five years and I've been in the public service for 32 years. Every day, every week, during those 32 years, I have seen the Treasury Board ask an awful lot of questions about submissions they receive, and I've seen many times the Treasury Board, after their own review, turn down proposals.

Transport committee  I cannot comment on that.

Transport committee  I cannot comment on that.

Transport committee  They will very often be impatient, not so much because they have projects in the pipeline for the next construction season, but because a detailed engineering design can easily take a year and they're planning for summer 2008 already.

Transport committee  Well, strictly speaking, there is a requirement that it be incremental money. Once a year we obtain a report from the provinces on how the money was used, and it's audited. The audit is conducted partly to verify that the money has actually been incremental. We all appreciate that it can be difficult to actually measure that, but that's one of the criteria, that it be incremental.

Transport committee  They've all been signed now. You're talking about the gas tax now?

Transport committee  Both the gas tax agreement and MRIF agreements have been signed now, so the programs are in place. The only exception is that there is a small portion, which is for first nations, that still needs to be resolved.

Transport committee  No, I think that's what the minister alluded to. As you know, the budget in 2006 did provide money for each of those programs. As we reflected on architecture, if you wish, we assumed there could be some flexibility in how the money is administered. The eligibility criteria also, we believe, could be revisited.

Transport committee  As you know, we were asked to consult throughout the summer. We visited all ten provinces and three territories. We're right in the middle of it now. We have several options under consideration.

Transport committee  That's correct.

Transport committee  Well, yes, actually. It's the old BIF, the Border Infrastructure Fund, and the SHIP, the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program. You could see it that way.

Transport committee  Yes, in terms of its extension, you are correct.

Transport committee  What's extremely helpful in those programs is that the money can be carried forward. In other words, in the budget there actually was money for HBIF, and here we are in November, so that money will be pushed back for future years. Not a penny is lost if we get to the end of the year.

Transport committee  One thing that is interesting is that when you look at past commitments, in infrastructure you are easily working in cycles of four years or five years, by the time you get the engineering design and so on. In fact, from past programs there's still a lot of money. It's all committed, but it's not necessarily spent.