Transport committee  Our interest is only municipal.

Transport committee  I don't have the figure for 2015.

Transport committee  No, we don't have a figure for this specific fiscal year. We know what the frame is for the new building Canada fund over the five- and ten-year timeframe, but I don't have a figure for this fiscal year, partly because it's on a project-by-project basis. Projects need to get unde

Transport committee  Do you mean the new building Canada fund?

Transport committee  No, because they can put together a project proposal and work through the province and territory.

Transport committee  It must be the right number, if you've done the research. I don't have the number with me specifically, partly because, as we have said many times, the thing with the building Canada fund is that it's for projects that are approved. Work is done, receipts are sent in, and payment

Transport committee  —so, profiling the money over a five-year timeframe, it makes sense in the reality of the way things work in this program that most of the money comes later on in the project timeframe, because that's when the receipts are going to be coming in and municipalities are going to be

Transport committee  Sure. The purpose of this study, as far as I would advise, is that there is a history of experience in investing in infrastructure. It has different forms, different shapes, and different sizes, but in all of that there are lessons learned. There are lessons learned about how to

Transport committee  You're absolutely right; social issues should be included in there. I was part of a summit last week on reducing poverty, and one of the thrusts of the conversation highlighted the importance of effective public transit as one way of helping to level the playing field and enabl

Transport committee  One of them would be that infrastructure investments should be maintained at a level of somewhere between 4% and 5% of GDP. One of the facts of our history is that we were at that level, and then there was a dip, and we're paying for the fact that we took our foot off the pedal f

Transport committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. As you can imagine, this is a really important study for us. We are keenly interested in this discussion, so I really appreciate the invitation to be here today. I also send regards from our president, Brad Woodside. He is on stage right now as a

Finance committee  Sure. As you know, in the building Canada fund program, the expectation is that there's one-third/one-third/one-third cost sharing. This is a really important opportunity for municipalities to leverage their dollars to do larger pieces of work. The problem is that with program fu

Finance committee  However, if those municipalities don't win the competition, they lose the resources they have invested in their whole project preparation.

Finance committee  There are no specific figures indicating how the deficit will be addressed. The deficit is currently somewhat stable thanks to the investments under the Economic Action Plan. That initiative helps a lot in this area, even though it is short-term. We think that the main idea is t

Finance committee  So a long-term program—such as the Gas Tax Fund—is needed to eliminate the municipal deficit.