Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to answer this question.
Last week the minister was pleased to announce that our government has exceeded the targets of the Connecting Canadians program. The Connecting Canadians program will connect over 70,000 more households to affordable high-speed Internet, for a total of 357,000 homes. We have achieved this goal with only 60% of the total Connecting Canadians budget.
For Canadians in rural and northern regions, access to high-speed Internet will unlock tremendous economic potential, leading to the creation of new jobs, products, and businesses across Canada. Again, I only wish the opposition parties would support initiatives like this.