Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Chair. I can advise you that the funding included in these supplementary estimates for the Jacques Cartier Bridge and the Champlain Bridge is required essentially for repairs and deck replacement for the Honoré Mercier Bridge and the Cha

Government Operations committee  This is all federal funding that is being provided. Of course the Honoré Mercier Bridge also has a component, and funds are being provided by the provincial government, so as I said, this is being managed completely through work by the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridge Incorpo

Government Operations committee  The $50 million in the supplementary estimates for VIA Rail is intended to help deal with an operating shortfall. The operating shortfall is a result of lower revenues, the downturn in the economy, increases in fuel costs, and other charges in their train service agreements. The

Government Operations committee  The $1.5 million is funding out of the infrastructure stimulus fund to complete the North Sydney alternate dock upgrade project. This is remaining work. An amount of $9 million had been authorized out of the infrastructure stimulus fund for this project. Funds in the amount of $2

Government Operations committee  Is that for the sale of the old vessels?

Government Operations committee  In fact Marine Atlantic went through an auction process. They went through a whole request for proposals process and in fact they did have a successful bidder, so those old vessels were sold through that process.

Transport committee  The supplementary estimates (B) include funds of $1.5 million and they are for an alternate dock upgrade in North Sydney. These funds are actually funds that are being reprofiled from 2010-2011 to the current year. This is part of a $9 million initiative that was announced in the

Transport committee  The department will be doing all the design work, as the deputy referred to. Certainly all the conceptual work, the consultations--it's a very significant project--will all be factored--

Transport committee  It's still very early days. All of this will be part of the work. We'll be looking at consulting with P3 Canada as part of the process, but as I said, it's still early days. We're consulting with various levels of government and stakeholders, working with experts, and we'll certa

Transport committee  Canada Post looks at the issue of hours of service of postal offices on a regular basis. It is looking at traffic patterns and post office use. This is very standard procedure for the post office. So if there are increases in terms of demand, then they will increase the hours of

Transport committee  No. This $23 million is basically covering three particular items. An amount of $4.6 million is for the Champlain Bridge, and again these are funds that are being reprofiled from the previous year. There were some delays in the work plan, so this is basically to be able to comp

Transport committee  The first phase of the initiative has been completed, and that was the steel repairs and the deck replacement on the access ramp. So that was actually completed. The bridge redecking is expected to be finished this coming spring, 2012.

Transport committee  Three items are included in these estimates, for a total of about $23 million. The first component, as I mentioned earlier, is for the Champlain Bridge in the amount of $4.6 million. These funds have been re-profiled from the previous years to complete. There were revisions to

Transport committee  On the VIA Rail issue, the reduction in the main estimates reflects the fact that many of VIA's large capital projects are winding down. In the budgets of 2007 and 2009, about $923 million was allocated to VIA for a whole bunch of major capital projects. They've accomplished much

Transport committee  Well, VIA basically ensures that.... I mean, everything it does in terms of safety is not compromising safety. I think that for any of the measures the organization has taken—and it has taken measures in terms of the lean initiative, which is to reduce management structures—they