Thank you, Madam Chair.
My thanks to the witnesses for the time they are devoting to the committee today and their help with its work.
My first question is for you, Madam Heron.
I would first like to congratulate you. I am very happy to have heard what you said. To my knowledge, this is the first time we have heard a witness express such concern about small and medium-sized municipalities.
In this study, we have only heard from representatives of large cities. The situation of the smallest communities is one of my personal concerns. The fact that a municipality of 65,000 people was able to propel itself to the level of smart cities is very interesting, I think. I would like you to tell us more about how you did it in your municipality.
One of the important issues is Internet connectivity. The government has a budget of $500 million for that. I think that's peanuts, given that we are talking about connecting all the regional municipalities in Canada.
What can we do if we don't have access to that connectivity? Do you think municipalities can manage to connect without federal support?