Thank you, Mr. Chair. In each annual planning cycle, the department does look at the O and M costs of new infrastructure. When we fund through our O and M estimates, we have incorporated costs of operating new facilities. Based on our funding formula for communities, this whole area is also going to be the subject of the municipal financing review the department is proposing in the coming year, in which we are going to be examining the whole financial relationship of the department with communities, part of which is related to the ongoing operations and maintenance of their infrastructure and the municipal programs that they deliver.

As Mrs. Ballantyne mentioned yesterday, the future funding for ongoing activities with communities is subject to annual review and guarantees are not there for future years, but for the current year the funding is available. Thank you, Mr. Chair.