I am pleased to respond to Mr. Ethier's letter of January 18th. I note that he is now the President of the Simcoe North Liberal Association and I congratulate him on achieving this new position.

I applaud the Province of Ontario's decision to invest $4. million toward the MURF. It is an example of sound investment in areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Your readers might be interested to know that the Government of Canada already invests heavily in assisting Orillia with its infrastructure needs.

The City of Orillia received $814,000 in 2006 for the Coldwater Road expansion. It will receive $4,900,000 over five years (to 2010) in gas tax transfers - money that can be spent on green infrastructure. By the time the MURF is completed, Orillia will have saved in excess of $5,000,000 by way of the 100 per cent GST rebate (prior to 2004 only 57 per cent of GST was rebated) including an estimated $1,400,000 million rebate on the MURF project itself (amounts are approximate). These new funding sources came into force after the MURF project began in 2002.

This kind of financial assistance is not intended to directly support projects like the MURF. But it does, indirectly and here's how. It gives City Council the ability to make its own decisions on its own infrastructure priorities with the full knowledge it has a reliable, predictable source of federal funds. For example, council can apply federal dollars for water, sewer and transit projects - allowing them to use city taxpayer dollars for projects like MURF as they choose.

This approach keeps the federal government out of the politics of deciding which individual projects deserve support and which do not. It keeps each level of government accountable for the spending decisions within their jurisdiction - and accountable to the taxpayer who provides the funds in the first place.

Looking ahead, the details of a new Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund will be announced soon, and Budget 2006 provides $1.532 billion new dollars over four years to support it.

I continue to work with the City of Orillia regarding the MURF project and other infrastructure needs. I am pleased our government is helping municipalities invest in infrastructure and in developing healthy, sustainable communities here in Simcoe North and across Canada.