Transport committee  No. I did not say we started the process seven or eight years ago. We noticed the excessive cost of work and we proposed that the government of Quebec create a board of this kind. That idea is still in the works and nothing has been decided by the government. We have taken a fur

Transport committee  I could not really answer your question, because I am not familiar with that particular situation. We have not done any comparatives studies between Ontario and Quebec. However, I have to say that your questions really go beyond the subject of our presentation. In this case, we

Transport committee  In fact, expanding the programs would enable all municipalities in Canada to benefit from them. However, it is limited to certain sectors. Take the example of drinking water. Some rural municipalities, both in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada, have no water system. At this point, i

Transport committee  You are entirely correct. It is 100% the public who provide the revenue, regardless of the type of government. However, I would like to say something about a statement you made when you said people think there is a river of money. When I gave my presentation, I do not think I ig

Transport committee  What we initially asked for applied to Quebec, but it could also be used at the federal level. With respect to the board, it can be very simple, but it can also be complicated. I will try to keep to the simple aspect. In the case of various infrastructure projects, we have no r

Transport committee  When there is a problem with collusion, it gives the municipalities an index. Alarm bells will go off to say...

Transport committee  That might happen, but on that point, I do have a comment. Previously, that was really a sore point. Today, however, with things being tightened up both administratively and politically, submitting the lowest bid and planning for extras on the project is no longer seen as an ope

Transport committee  Sir, the reason is that there has really not been any increase in revenues. In fact, when it comes to the municipalities' balance sheets, this is actually additional taxation that has been transferred directly to residents. The other factor relates to budget growth. When you tal

Transport committee  We have indeed looked into this issue. However, as I said earlier in relation to the infrastructure deficit, it was not as sharply defined as what you have just said. It would mean that the envelope would be even larger than what we have discussed. In fact, we are extremely happ

Transport committee  In fact, the first dedicated fund, which relates to the gas tax, is an extremely useful program. To answer your question, I have the impression we are on thin ice...

Transport committee  ...and we have to be careful about proposing things.

Transport committee  I will speak as the mayor. If we have dedicated funds, taking the size of the envelope into account, someone, somewhere, will...

Transport committee  They will not necessarily have more. Rather, I would say that some will have less because of the content of the envelope. I should perhaps answer your question by saying we should look at specific cases rather than having dedicated funds. That is why I say we are on thin ice.

Transport committee  That's correct.

Transport committee  We held discussions about what we asked for from the federal government. We also met with both the government party and the opposition parties to sell our project. It was really more a question of basic infrastructure and expanding the program. As you said, Canada-wide structurin