Government Operations committee  Sure.

Government Operations committee  First of all, for the fiscal year that ended March 31, we won't have the final lapse information for you at this stage. It's too early, obviously. However, in general, when a department is lapsing funding, and they think they're going to lapse on a program, they will come to us a

Government Operations committee  In this case, with a multi-year commitment of seven years--I would go back to budget 2007, when we set the seven-year, $33 billion infrastructure commitment--certainly we're not tying those funds to the specific year in question. In other words, we won't say that if it was $500 m

Government Operations committee  Sure.

Government Operations committee  Finance and Treasury Board Secretariat can answer that.

Government Operations committee  The amounts that lapsed in 2007-08 would all have been profiled into 2008-09 or a subsequent year.

Government Operations committee  They haven't lapsed. It would appear, technically, as a lapse, because it was included in the estimates and not spent, but it would have been moved forward into the 2008-09 estimates or the 2009-10 estimates.

Government Operations committee  I can't speak to that specifically, I must admit.

Government Operations committee  I'm not an expert in how the funding in infrastructure agreements works, but I think the normal process would be to agree on a project with the province or the municipality, together with a payment schedule. Progress must be made, but once the agreement is in place and the projec

Government Operations committee  It's part of that longer-term, seven-year, $33 billion infrastructure plan that was announced in the 2007 budget. Certainly that was intended to go over a number of years, so there certainly are funds for future years that are still out there. The action plan itself includes no

Government Operations committee  I think the one question that came up in Mr. Smith's remarks was about what happens if they can't spend the money. We revisit that at the end of the fiscal year in the action plan. We're focused right now on doing what we can to get the money flowing. On what will happen six or n

Government Operations committee  Are the lists you're referring to the lists of programs announced in the budget?

Government Operations committee  My apologies. There are some examples in there of projects that could be covered under the programs. Those are examples of the types of projects that might be considered under the broader envelope of the program.

Government Operations committee  Again, if you were looking for specific projects under a larger program, such as under the infrastructure stimulus fund, you would want to go to Transport Canada or Infrastructure Canada, who would be able to discuss specific projects with you.

Government Operations committee  Yes, look at the program.