Transport committee  But your broad question is a good one. Canada is spending less, as a percentage of the overall wealth in the economy, than at any time in the last 50 years. By the way, I don't ascribe that simply to the current government. There's been a crunching down of spending.

Transport committee  We hear about aging fleets, huge pressure on property taxes, and cutting services to so-called non-productive suburban routes. No transit driver or maintenance worker wants to see the public waiting an hour and a half for a bus that used to come every 30 minutes. That's just th

Transport committee  I was a big supporter of the move to dedicate a portion of the gas tax to municipalities and to working with municipalities to use that to bring down the infrastructure deficit. And I was a big supporter of Mr. Flaherty's two budgets in the midst of the recession. I think that st

Transport committee  Thank you very much. I expect it depends on where you go, but we've heard a number of messages.

Transport committee  Probably not, but a national strategy could have a more positive impact. We should not use government money to create jobs for the sake of it. But if we're talking about renewing infrastructure, the statistics that I gave you are that over the last ten years, investment in capita

Transport committee  Thank you very much for the question. First of all, as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has said, about a quarter of CUPE's membership, about 150,000 to 160,000 members, are municipal employees. For the eight years I have been in this job, I have attended all of the co

Transport committee  Thank you very much. I didn't answer that the first time you asked it. We have an incredible responsibility on behalf of the people who work in public transit to make the most efficient system possible, to embrace change if communities are going to move from traditional busing

Transport committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Members of the committee, with me is Kelti Cameron. Kelti is a senior research officer for the municipal sector. Also with us is Toby Sanger, our senior economist. If there are any questions arising out of what we say, Toby will assist as well.

International Trade committee  I met a Colombian trade union leader two weeks ago in Santiago, Chile. He's aware of these hearings going on. He very much hopes and dreams of expanded relations between Colombia and Canada, but he also hopes for the weight of the Government of Canada to improve the lot in life f

International Trade committee  There is an inclination to attack the labour movement as if it's against all trade, and nothing could be further from the truth.

International Trade committee  Not you. I make that as a general statement. I want to say something about SNC-Lavalin. We have dealt with SNC-Lavalin, and they're a very practical and at times a very progressive company, no problem with trade unions. The problem is not Canadian companies in Colombia; the pro

International Trade committee  Through the chair, I'll give you a very quick answer. The labour movement in Canada is pro-trade. We want more trade with more nations around the world. But in the case of indigenous and Afro-Colombians who live in these rural areas, we practise standards in Canada such that we w

International Trade committee  And I'm talking about the report. I didn't write this report, but it's Land and Conflict -- Resource Extraction, Human Rights, and Corporate Social Responsibility: Canadian Companies in Colombia. There's a responsibility when doing business in another nation to be respectful.

International Trade committee  Very briefly, I think the deal runs the risk of legitimizing a less-than-perfect framework of human and labour rights in Colombia.

International Trade committee  I don't distinguish between workers' labour rights and economic—