Transport committee  I would say that there's a significant commercial benefit to the project. It's one where there was a conversion. I don't know if it has commenced or if it's completed yet, Ms. Murray, but the Royal York hotel in downtown Toronto was going to undergo modifications and changes to its structure in order to become net-zero—in fact, probably beyond net-zero.

Transport committee  That is the key. Due diligence has to be done on projects. It has to be done at the pace of the project, and not necessarily at the pace of bureaucracy, which can be a difficult thing, to slow down a project. It has to be done. There's no question about it. I guess the government has made a choice that it is going to do its due diligence outside of the federal departments, and it is going to do it in a different way.

Transport committee  My understanding is that there was always due diligence. What I can't tell you is whether or not there were outside contracts. I do know that, in the case of the federal government, because we were actually working with the provinces and municipalities and not specifically with individual companies, I think the due diligence—and I stand to be corrected—would have been of a much less intense measure than the due diligence that may be happening when you're giving money to private companies.

Transport committee  In the private sector, obviously, deals will fall through if the due diligence doesn't allow for the financing of the project to go ahead, for example, or if the project proponent doesn't want to continue. That's very normal in the private sector. I'm so sorry, but I can't recall about the P3, because it was actually administered by Minister Flaherty.

Transport committee  It's extremely important, Mr. Strahl. The reality is that investors are waiting to hear from the budget on a number of items. When you see a continuous stream of announcements from the government indicating all the spending that's going to be happening, you wonder what is going to happen to the deficit and, second, whether there will be a tax increase.

Transport committee  It certainly could. I don't know how much time there would be between the actual rating depression and what happens in terms of the cost of capital, the cost of the borrowing for the deficits of the B.C. government. However, at the end of the day, we all know that it's the taxpayers who end up paying.

Transport committee  The reference was to a specific project that we were being interviewed on, and it had to do with some work that was being done by the Royal York, by a private entity that was making it more green and adhering to it. It needed some help from the CIB and, in fact, it was given. I have not seen any larger projects being done, other than something like that.

Transport committee  I can actually comment, MP Muys, on the question you had just before, with respect to bonuses. You may recall that we dealt with major infrastructure projects in our government through the P3 Canada model, which was a Crown corporation. Within a Crown corporation, any kind of bonusing actually goes through the Prime Minister, so it's a really good way to ensure that you are accountable for the bonuses and that they're kept to a certain level.

Transport committee  I would agree with you.

Transport committee  I haven't taken a look recently at what it has done or has not done. I know the CIB has lots of activity with various banks here in Toronto, whether or not it has had projects completed. I went to an announcement of one project that the CIBC was involved in. I don't know whether or not it's been constructed or whether or not it's been completed, but they were certainly involved in it.

Transport committee  When I was lucky enough to be a member of Parliament, from 2008 to 2015, and to 2019 in opposition, one of the key programs that we had was P3 Canada, and P3 Canada was a really important way to ensure that, for the really large projects that clearly need to have some kind of government involvement for infrastructure, there is a vessel to do that.

Transport committee  I'm happy to take any questions, Mr. Chair. I don't have any prepared remarks. Thanks.