East Broughton, Québec - The Secretary of State for Agriculture and Member of Parliament for Mégantic-L’Érable, the Honourable Christian Paradis, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minister responsible for the Chaudière-Appalaches region and Member of the National Assembly for Frontenac, Laurent Lessard, on behalf of the Deputy Premier and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Regions, Nathalie Normandeau, provided the Municipality of East Broughton with a first cheque of $160,256 under the federal-provincial agreement on the transfer of a portion of federal gasoline excise tax revenues and the Government of Quebec’s contribution. This is the first payment for the Municipality of East Broughton, which will receive a total of $500,801 over the next four years for important infrastructure projects.

“Ensuring Canadians have access to quality infrastructure is an important priority for the Government of Canada. This is why we launched our $33-billion Building Canada infrastructure plan, of which $17.6 billion will be used as base funding to address communities’ infrastructure needs,” said MP Paradis. “I am pleased that the Municipality of East Broughton can address its infrastructure needs thanks to contributions provided through the Canada-Québec gas tax agreement, which is a component of our Building Canada plan. Projects such as these demonstrate how the Government of Canada’s approach to open federalism supports a stronger economy, a cleaner environment and more prosperous communities in Quebec.”

“The funding announced today is a reflection of our commitment to improve the quality of life of residents. With this agreement, the Municipality of East Broughton will now be able to rely on stable annual funding, which will facilitate planning the work that needs to be done. As demonstrated by the Plan québécois des infrastructures, which foresees an investment of $30 billion within the next five years, of which $3.15 billion will be used to maintain municipal infrastructure and ensure it meets standards, the repair and modernization of public infrastructure is an important priority for the Government of Quebec,” said Minister Lessard.

The goal of the Canada-Quebec Agreement is to provide funding for the renewal of municipal and local infrastructure, and specifically for municipal drinking water, wastewater, local road system and public transit infrastructure, within a context of sustainable development. The Government of Canada will provide the Government of Quebec a total of $1.34 billion over five years, to which Québec will add $475.7 million, for a grand total of $1.8 billion. Including contributions from municipalities, $2.3 billion will go toward renewing municipal infrastructure. The funds will be administered by the Société de financement des infrastructures locales du Québec (SOFIL).