Thanks, Madam Chair.
Welcome, ministers and guests.
Minister Beech, can I start with you?
I have a quick question about the “digital first” initiative. You're charged with the responsibility of changing government services and making them more efficient and more accessible to our constituents. My kids have grown up with a phone in their hand. They do all of their shopping and banking online, and their entertainment's online. They expect innovation, certainly. They're the young voters of today. We have a bigger crowd, of course, that expects the same.
At the other end of the spectrum is my 91-year-old mother-in-law, who is used to dealing with brick-and-mortar facilities. She doesn't own a phone. She's not online. As part of that, her daily routines are social events for her. With English as her second language, it's very important for her to deal with whoever she's dealing with face to face because of some of those communication issues.
How do you balance that? You've emphasized today, and outside of this committee room, the government's quest to make those government services much easier for our constituents to access. That means pushing things online. However, we also have a big constituency. A lot of my seniors in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek still want that brick-and-mortar facility. They still want that personal interaction.
Can you advise us in terms of how we balance the needs of those two distinct constituencies?