Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Minister, thank you for joining us.
First, I would like to remind my colleague Mr. Caputo that we introduced a motion to hear from more witnesses on the issue he mentioned. Accordingly, we would very much like to move forward with this motion.
Minister, I would like to draw your attention to a topic that is very important to me: cellular connectivity.
I come from a particularly mountainous region and live in a city of nearly 200,000 people. Yet, at home, I have no cell service—and I won't even go into all the rural communities around Sherbrooke. Many of them have no cellular connectivity.
For example, I've had reports from firefighters who have to leave the scene of an emergency to call for backup. Sometimes paramedics have no service either. If you're in a car accident, sometimes you can't reach emergency services. There are also shelters that find themselves in situations where they have no connection.
I would therefore like to know more about the importance the Department of Public Safety places on the issue of cellular connectivity in rural areas and what actions are being taken to improve the situation.