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Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for joining us today.

On January 26, Transport Canada issued an advisory circular regarding the designation of international airports in Canada. It came as a surprise to some that the airports in Regina and Saskatoon had lost their international designation. I was wondering if the witnesses could speak to how they came to the decision that the Regina and Saskatoon airports were to lose their international designation.

Is it typical to change these designations without a consultation process beforehand?

Moving forward, can you elaborate on the process that airports will have to follow for reapplying for this designation?

Can the witnesses speak to the timeline of this process? Is it a matter of submitting some documentation and then getting the rubber stamp, or does it take many weeks and months?

Finally, I would like to follow up on Nav Canada's study to close several of this country's air traffic control towers.

It's my understanding that at the end of this study the transport minister will have the ability to order Nav Canada to keep a tower open if the minister is of the opinion that the order is necessary for aviation safety or for the safety of the general public. Can the witnesses offer any insight as to how the minister will come to this final decision regarding the closure of the towers?

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My questions are for Ms. Skivsky of the NTCCC .

This committee heard on Tuesday from the Canadian Construction Association that one of the problems with the Canada Infrastructure Bank is that the funding buckets are not flexible enough and that this is leading to blockages in getting projects started.

I was wondering if this observation matches the experience of the NTCCC and whether Ms. Skivsky could share her thoughts on that.

When it comes to the Canada Infrastructure Bank being of benefit to only certain types of construction firms and workers, besides the examples you listed, are there any other types of projects or types of funding buckets that would enable the Canada Infrastructure Bank to be more inclusive of your industry?

Very good.

I got the impression from past witnesses at this committee that the Canada Infrastructure Bank often tries to kill two or three birds with one stone. A project may have goals related to economic development, social or environmental benefits and so on. Can Ms. Skivsky provide any recommendations that she hasn't already regarding streamlining these goals to get these projects approved and started faster?

Thank you, Chair.

I had my five minutes previously, so I believe I will be turning my time over to either Mr. Soroka or Mr. Shipley. I'm not sure which one.

Mr. Chair, which motion is motion number one? Is that the sound check for witnesses or is that the linguistic revision?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for joining us today.

My questions are for Mr. Bain. I think it's important for people to understand that P3s are not just a catchphrase. Public-Private Partnerships Canada used to be an actual federal government Crown corporation. It was wound down a few years ago and more or less and replaced by the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

From the perspective of Concert's day-to-day operations, can you speak to some of the key differences between the old Public-Private Partnerships Crown corporation and the new Canada Infrastructure Bank?

Can you speak to what those screen implications are to project timelines?

Okay, fair enough. I've been to Concert's website, and your organization has had a great deal of experience with building housing infrastructure. I would imagine that, if your organization wants to build a housing project, it must be a tremendous amount of work to coordinate with the provincial governments of B.C. or Ontario or with different municipalities. From your perspective and from the perspective of Concert, what can be done to streamline government processes and get housing projects and other projects built faster, better and more quickly?

With respect to the second recommendation from your opening statement, that the Canada Infrastructure Bank should take a leadership role in identifying infrastructure projects, it would seem to me that infrastructure projects should be driven from the bottom up and not the top down. If the Canada Infrastructure Bank were to take more of a leadership role, can you speak to some of the best practices that should be in place to make sure that local stakeholder interests are still heard, and that we don't get into an “Ottawa knows best” approach?