Transport committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome, Minister. I'm going to be sharing my time with my colleague, Mr. Sikand. Mr. Minister, I want to ask specifically about municipal issues. I come from a municipal background from a very small town as a mayor. I've been involved provincially as president of the municipal association and sitting on the FCM board, the federal board.

Transport committee  I have one other question. I appreciate the support you provide to municipalities because it sometimes alleviates the municipal burden or the tax burden on people within our small communities, especially, across the country. Today Internet and cellphone service are crucially important but sadly lacking in many parts of rural Canada.

Transport committee  Specifically, how much of the $2 billion allocated for rural and northern communities over the 10 years has been allocated or spent so far?

Transport committee  In your department's view, what has been the biggest obstacle that the federal government has had in overcoming projects and getting them completed in a timely manner? Is it because of the delays in signing bilateral agreements or because the project's not shovel ready?

Transport committee  I guess I'm out of time. I just want to say thank you for that information. I know there's been a lot of suggestions as to delays and so on, but thank you for filling in that information for me. I appreciate it.

Transport committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome, guests. I'm going to focus my questions around the infrastructure program. The bilateral agreement signed between the federal government and each of the provinces and territories clearly outlines that the federal government is willing to support small communities with even greater levels of funding.

Transport committee  My recommendation to municipalities, then, would be to deal directly with their provincial municipal affairs departments on those issues if they were to try to seek out funding, because as Ms. Sansoucy said, capacity in staffing, and so on, is an issue in some of these small municipalities.

Transport committee  I really appreciate the information. I asked the question directly this morning, because sometimes this goes around in circles and becomes frustrating when you try to deal with the municipalities and the provinces.

Transport committee  I was surprised when you referenced in your comments the delays and some of the reasons outlined for them. From my municipal background, I know that for years we've been lobbying hard for major infrastructure spending programs. I'm surprised to learn that the money is not being spent as quickly as anticipated.

Transport committee  Okay. The other big concern around infrastructure spending has to do with waste-water treatment facilities. I was the mayor of a small town of 1,200 people, and one of the earlier requests we put out was to get information about treating waste water, which has to be done by 2020 for high-risk systems, by 2030 for medium-risk systems, and so on, as outlined in the regulations.

Transport committee  That's fine, Madam Chair. I just wanted to focus on the east coast for now and the impact of the regulations.

Transport committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome, witnesses. I have a question for Ecojustice, in particular, pertaining to the east coast of the country and the right whales. I sit on the fisheries committee as well. We've heard from many witnesses from the the fishery, the shipping industry, the tourism industry, and whale watching operations and so on about the impact of the legislation or the measures taken by DFO to protect right whales on the east coast.

Transport committee  Thank you very much. From the shipping industry perspective, what's your opinion on what was done on the east coast of the country?

Transport committee  Madam Chair, I want us to go to St. John's, Newfoundland, but given Newfoundland winters, I'd much prefer that we reconsider the time frame and look at maybe April. The chances of getting to the province at that point would be much greater than in January, when at any time you could have a snowstorm that interrupts the trip.

Transport committee  Madam Chair, I watched a TV show about school bus safety a few days ago with great interest. I'm not sure if it was The Fifth Estate or Marketplace. They talked about many jurisdictions where school bus safety has been improved by introducing seat belts on school buses. When I watched and heard the numbers of children who had been tragically killed or severely injured, I thought that maybe this was something our committee should take a look at.