(Return tabled) Question No. 125 Mr. Dennis Bevington: With respect to the Building Canada Plan (2007-2014): (a) under the Building Canada Fund, (i) what projects have been approved for funding to date, (ii) where are they located, (iii) who are the partners involved, (iv) what is the federal contribution, (v) what are each partner's contribution, (vi) has the funding flowed; (b) under the Public-Private Partnerships Fund, (i) what projects have been approved for funding to date, (ii) where are they located, (iii) who are the partners involved, (iv) what is the federal contribution, (v) what are each partner's contribution, (vi) has the funding flowed; (c) under the Gateways and Border Crossings Fund, (i) what projects have been approved ...[+++]for funding to date, (ii) where are they located, (iii) who are the partners involved, (iv) what is the federal contribution, (v) what are each partner's contribution, (vi) has the funding flowed; (d) under the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, (i) what projects have been approved for funding to date, (ii) where are they located, (iii) who are the partners involved, (iv) what is the federal contribution, (v) what are each partner's contribution, (vi) has the funding flowed; and (e) under the Provincial-Territorial Base Funding, (i) what projects have been approved for funding to date, (ii) where are they located, (iii) who are the partners involved, (iv) what is the federal contribution, (v) what are each partner's contribution, (vi) has the funding flowed?

One of the difficulties we face is that, because of the framework decision, because of the legal basis – or the lack of a legal basis – with regard to certain aspects of that framework decision, we could be leaving ourselves open to being accused of being hypocritical, merely appearing to act without actually taking any decisive action.

In accordance with a risk-based approach, the reliable independent source documents specified by the Commission are rarely available, particularly in the case of legal entities, and would be impossible to obtain or could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.

Meanwhile, we have to negotiate a framework agreement which forms a solid basis for the improvement of our institutional relationships, with measures relating to transparency and information, such as obtaining the working documents of the Council, the Minutes of the meetings of the College of Commissioners, except when confidentiality has been agreed, or an information system on the work of OLAF which would take into account the necessary discretion.

These genreal agreements confirm the importance for Quebec to be close to these regions and to decentralize within the province, contrary to the what the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec is doing, in the light of federal imperatives based on a mythical and centralizing vision of what industrial development should be in Canada.

Should the senators believe that a legislative base for federal involvement is needed, then CWWA notes that the twice-proposed Drinking Water Material Safety Act would fill essential gaps in the overall legislative framework and provided a direct basis for federal involvement.