Thank you, Madam Chair.
My question is for Minister Monsef.
I must confess that I was especially eager for her to appear today, given what was happening when the committee met with her on May 11. We were in the throes of the pandemic at that time, and I had high expectations that she would be able to grasp the scale of the challenge facing Canadians. As we know, the pandemic underscored the importance of Internet access for teleworkers and students doing their schooling online, just to name a few. I expected a concrete plan, but I was patient back then.
Minister, it is now November 19. It's great that you loved your red cell phone when you were younger, but the fact remains that we know nothing more about the program.
Last week, you announced your plan to increase your connectivity target to 98% of Canadians by 2026. That is ambitious, but I am inclined to think that the remaining 2% will be mostly in my riding. I don't see progress being made as far as the various programs are concerned. To my mind, the 98% of Canadians who will have connectivity will live in urban centres, as you mentioned.
Will you adapt the programming to take into account the needs of very rural areas, rather than putting the money towards connectivity in urban centres?