Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for again talking about the connect to innovate program.
We had extensive consultations with municipalities and stakeholders when we designed the program. We actually announced the program in our 2016 budget, so people are well aware of this initiative and our government's commitment to deal with that digital divide and make sure we invest in our rural and remote communities.
This is a significant investment. When leveraged with the private sector, it has the potential of a billion dollar investment. This is significant for our regions. We are listening to our regions. That is why we extended the date to April 20.