Transport committee  It's not so. First off, to just correct something, Chair, that the member of Parliament has said, I was not involved at all in setting up the bank. That was done by the government following the receipt of the recommendations of the growth council and, I presume, internal deliberations within the government.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. I can't respond to that in 20 seconds, because that's just not the case. Number one, the member of Parliament just mentioned that in six years the bank hasn't accomplished anything. That's simply just not true. The bank, after three years of operation, really did step up the velocity of its activity, as another of the panel, Madam Raitt, mentioned earlier.

Transport committee  Given the nature of the financing and the interest rate, it did not have a very significant impact on the financial performance of the REM or on returns to the Caisse's [inaudible].

Transport committee  Yes, of course. As I was saying a few minutes ago, and as Ms. Raitt was saying, there is a very large gap between the need for infrastructure development in Canada and the ability of governments to make the necessary investments to meet that need. This begs the question: how do we make the necessary investments, and do so in a fiscally responsible manner?

Transport committee  That was a decision made by the government and, indeed, the government informed us of that change. However, frankly, when I was at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the CDPQ, we were quite happy with the government's participation, but it was their decision to make that investment through the Infrastructure Bank.

Transport committee  That's a good question. Given the importance and size of this investment, at the time, there was good collaboration between the government and the Infrastructure Bank, because it was just at the beginning of the Bank's operations. I think it was just a way to come to a decision on a large investment to facilitate a large project.

Transport committee  I was only chair of the board of the Infrastructure Bank for a number of months. I believe the only work that was done, that I was aware of at the time, was the work that we've already discussed to help accelerate the bank going forward. To my recollection, that is all there is.

Transport committee  That's a very important question. It goes to the heart of what the Infrastructure Bank is about. Other members of this panel have talked about the extent of the gap that exists in Canada and elsewhere around the world in infrastructure. It's somewhere between $150 billion and $1 trillion.

Transport committee  I've spoken on all kinds of panels. That's part of what being a senior executive is.

Transport committee  Any reasonable reading of that note you just read out.... It's quite clear that whoever was writing the memo was being careful about not offending people inside the bank. The writer wanted to keep the numbers down to simplify the scheduling of a meeting with the then ambassador to China, who was essentially doing us the favour of providing some of his thoughts as we worked on how we could accelerate the performance of the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Transport committee  In no way did I see that as a conflict. Absolutely, in no way.

Transport committee  Chair, how could that possibly be a conflict of interest, when Dominic Barton was simply providing some further thinking to help accelerate our own thinking with respect to...? There's not even the potential for a conflict of interest there. I simply do not understand the question.

Transport committee  Look, in the making of policy or in the making of decisions in large corporations or small corporations, you always reach outside. You always want to talk to other people. You always want to gather the greatest number of ideas and perspectives that you can, because the world is a complex place.

Transport committee  It's always a good idea to reach outside and get different views. That's just good management.

Transport committee  Those kinds of conferences are opportunities to exchange views, hear different perspectives and gain the benefit of activities going on in other projects in other countries. That's a way of contributing to the global conversation around issues of considerable importance across many countries.