Hon. Tony Loffreda: Welcome, minister.

It is important, so I would like to further discuss high-frequency rail, or HFR, and the government’s commitment to building a new eco-friendly transportation infrastructure project between Toronto and Quebec City.

As I understand it, the latest development in that project was a request for expressions of interest in March 2022 to seek feedback from interested parties on the design, build, finance, operation and maintenance of the project. More specifically, can you provide us with an update on the information you have collected so far and how that information is being leveraged to inform the next steps of the procurement process?

Additionally, the government thinks HFR could be fully operational in the early 2030s. Have you encountered, or do you expect to encounter, any delays? Do you think it will cost $12 billion to build, or have inflation and labour shortages affected your estimates?