Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the ministers for the opportunity to ask some questions. I'm sitting in for Mr. Masse, who has to be in the House right now. He's provided with me some questions, but I'd like to ask some questions of Minister Bains with regard to rural broadband.
The region that I represent in northwest B.C. is profoundly rural, with very small communities and many people living in remote settings. I was very interested in this report on telecommunications that was completed back in January. I believe you're familiar with it. I think the title is “Canada's Communications Future: Time to Act”. There's a portion in it under the broadband section, and I'll read it.
It says, “Further, despite the many programs working toward the goal of universal connectivity at the federal level, no Minister is specifically accountable to Parliament for the achievement of this objective.”
I asked this question of Minister McKenna at the infrastructure committee. She went on about coordination and a bunch of other stuff. I did ask her if she was in charge, and so I will extend the same question to you. Are you in charge of accountability and delivering on the promise that 98% of Canadians are going to have broadband by 2026?