Government Operations committee  I'm aware they were looking at setting up a website. I wasn't aware the website is being set up today. There are always projects that have been planned for and are ready for announcement. But of course with an additional $23 billion in stimulus there are many other areas of spending and many other projects that now we have to work very hard over the weeks and months ahead to identify and define and ensure they can move forward.

Government Operations committee  Again, my understanding is that the Auditor General has said she's been made aware of vote 35. At this time, I don't think she has declared her views about it. In fact, I think she appeared before the public accounts committee, where she said at the time that she wasn't aware of the details around vote 35 except that the government was setting it up.

Government Operations committee  I think when it comes to the overall state of affairs for infrastructure, each department comes up with its own estimate. We don't have a comprehensive assessment of that; each department does. As part of this action plan you'll see a lot of proposals coming forward based on what the department felt it needed.

Government Operations committee  I can. I guess we start with the budget initiatives that are not funded through the Budget Implementation Act. As I noted earlier, we're looking at these on a case-by-case basis, or the board is. We've wrapped up the business of the board to do that. It's essentially looking at all of those programs that were announced in the budget.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I think commitments are simply one aspect that we looked at. The government can decide on a program that has lapsed to reprofile that funding because the government says, look, we still think this is a priority for us as a government and we don't want to reduce overall spending on this program, even though we may not have spent that amount that was allocated in 2008-09.

Government Operations committee  It normally does come well after the end of the fiscal year.

Government Operations committee  Sorry, the federal budget?

Government Operations committee  Of the Building Canada fund, roughly $3.3 billion was allocated to Infrastructure Canada through the main and supplementary estimates for 2008-09. The money that's been allocated is still being spent. I think the minister alluded to the fact that many provinces have reached agreements where they are still putting in their forecasts about how much can be spent this fiscal year.

Government Operations committee  We have a precise forecast, just like many of the departments. They may be in a better position to know; we don't have that exact. The money was voted on by Parliament to spend on infrastructure, not to spend on training or whatever, which the $3 billion fund is going to be used for.

Government Operations committee  Well, as with all budget-related items, it has to come to the board for oversight and approval. The board looks at every program to determine that the terms and conditions are clear going forward, that there's appropriate oversight in the departments. Of course the $3 billion fund is to provide that bridge funding between April and June.

Public Accounts committee  Sorry, I didn't get your last point.

Public Accounts committee  I'm just saying, in terms of the minister, he had the authority to basically take the action he decided on. Therefore, under his guidelines, under the guidelines from ministers, he must ensure, in taking those actions, that he is complying with the regulations and the policies that we set out.

Public Accounts committee  On the $25,000, of the $12 billion in contracting across the government, about 10% is for contracts under $25,000. That limit has been in place now, I believe, for over 10 years. Some have argued that, based on inflation and the like, we should be looking at a higher limit.

Public Accounts committee  It's not clear to me. Is the question what are the trend lines since this government has come to power with respect to overall contracts, or with respect to contracts under $25,000? I'm not certain what the—

Public Accounts committee  I'm sorry, I don't have statistics on what has happened over the last couple of years with respect to that range of contracts.