Government Operations committee  I have identified three or four areas--

Government Operations committee  We have a good number projects where support has been requested. What we have to do--

Government Operations committee  If I could, in fairness--

Government Operations committee  I have a long list.

Government Operations committee  Yes. I have an $18 billion request from Metrolinx in the greater Toronto area. I have--

Government Operations committee  I appreciate the warm welcome you give me, Mr. Martin.

Government Operations committee  That's why I appreciate your introducing me to the president of that university earlier today. You both outlined the project. That's probably a project that would be more suitable to the $2 billion fund for colleges and universities. But we're trying to look at what we're doing on the cutting of red tape and fast-tracking--the work that our officials have done at Transport, Infrastructure and Communities--and at what we can do to roll that over to the college and university funding as well, to make it just as expeditious.

Government Operations committee  We have some fundamental principles that particularly the new funding is built on. One, we much prefer to have partners, because we can go a lot farther faster. In the case of the example you raised, it's at a much better ratio than one-third, one-third, one-third. The second issue is that we want it to be incremental.

Government Operations committee  Under Building Canada, every province is entitled to $25 million a year, for a total of $175 million a year. The process is very quick. They just have to submit a letter outlining the projects they'd like to spend the money on and we can flow the money. We have offered to all provinces that if they would like to accelerate that and seek the full $175 million, we're prepared to do that.

Government Operations committee  I think in most cases it's about leadership from the top. Where there's a cooperative spirit on all three levels of all sides, on the municipal side, on the provincial side, and on the federal side, things can happen. We can go farther faster. That takes a lot of personal engagement.

Government Operations committee  Yes. We announced in last year's budget that the gas tax transfer would be made permanent. It increased this year; in fact it doubled this year. You know, when we go into an economic hard time, rather than cutting our transfer partners we're actually increasing support. But with this new economic stimulus money, what we want to do is ask how we can stretch it as far as we can.

Government Operations committee  I am going to answer in English. My first priority and my first objective is to work constructively with Quebec. What we won't be doing with any province, with this new fund, is spending two years negotiating a framework agreement. We don't have the time in this economic situation.

Government Operations committee  We are talking here about money for gas, the GST transfer for municipalities, provincial projects. In Canada, the investment last year and this year in construction and infrastructure remains the most significant, and that is a good thing. Given the current global economic crisis, we are extremely aware of needing to do more and do it much faster.

Government Operations committee  I think if we make important, needed investments.... I'll use the example right here in the town where we are. We're working in cooperation with the province and the city on building a new convention centre. This will create a significant number of jobs in the short term and put a lot of money into the economy, both for labour and for materials, whether those be concrete, cement, or other building materials.

Government Operations committee  Under the communities component of the Building Canada Fund, there are $210 million for this kind of project. We need to sign an agreement with Quebec and we were very close to doing so. I am well aware that the Quebec government wants to work with us and that progress is being made.