Bernadette Jordan

[Telecommunications, April 5th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, we have invested in budget 2019 to make sure that we connect every Canadian in this country, as well as businesses, by the year 2030.

We are looking at making sure that connectivity is available in all rural communities. We know how important it is for people to grow businesses and access education and health care. We know that Internet is a critical part of the rural Canadian piece, and we are making sure that we deliver on that promise.

[Telecommunications, April 5th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, we understand the need for better connectivity in rural Canada. We have invested a great deal of money in budget 2019 to make sure that we meet those commitments. Our connect to innovate program has connected over 900 communities across the country.

We will continue to work hard to make sure that rural Canada is not left behind and that we do connect all of these communities so that we can address concerns that we have heard all across the country.

[Committees of the House, April 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am tabling the government's responses to Order Paper Questions Nos. 2223 to 2241.

[Infrastructure, April 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.

Our government understands that rural municipalities are eager to get infrastructure projects done, and we know how important it is for them to have a dependable, co-operative partner in the federal government. That is why in budget 2019 we introduced a top-up of $2.2 billion, which will flow directly to municipal governments to get their infrastructure projects under way.

While Conservatives across the country continue to show disrespect for municipalities, our government remains a dependable partner for rural communities.

[Interim Estimates, March 21st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a different point of order. Earlier today members opposite asked the member for Don Valley East to withdraw and apologize after a remark that was made in the House. Earlier today the member for St. John's East did not have his tie on and the member for Timmins—James Bay called him a big dummy. He should apologize and retract that statement.

[Telecommunications, February 5th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we know that in order to grow the rural economy, we have to have access to high-speed broadband. It is a commitment we have made in the past.

We have invested in connect to innovate, but we know we need to do more. That is why we are developing a rural economic strategy, and broadband will be a key piece of that.

I look forward to developing that strategy with people in this House, as well as with my provincial, municipal and territorial partners. We will hopefully have a strategy in the next few months.

[Telecommunications, February 5th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to rise as the new Minister of Rural Economic Development. Our government is committed to ensuring that we have high-quality, high-speed broadband in rural Canada. We know it is imperative for businesses to grow and succeed. That is why we are going to develop a rural economic strategy. Rural broadband will be an extremely important part of that.

I look forward to working with all members of the House to make sure we deliver on that strategy.

[Elections Modernization Act, December 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I also saw myself as a member of Parliament from the time I was about 15 years old, so it is an honour to be here today speaking to this elections act.

The hon. member mentioned a couple of things I want to clear the record on. First of all, the Canadian charter guarantees Canadians the right to vote. It does not say that one has to live in Canada. It is a charter right to be able to vote. That is really important to recognize.

Second, he called it a voter identification card. It is not. It is a voter information card. All it is is proof of residence that must be used with another piece of ID. Those are really important things to make sure people understand. This is not a card we would get in the mail that could be used as identification. It would still have to be used with something else.

In the previous election, there were so many people who were not able to vote because they did not have something with their address on it. I am going to use as an example a senior woman who lives with her husband and does not get a bill in her name, because bills come in her husband's name. She does not drive and does not have another piece of ID. This would just be an information card that could be provided with another piece of ID so someone could vote. It is really important that we make those clarifications.

The hon. member had some great comments about the building, and that is wonderful. I really appreciate his speech on the history. However, I think it is important to make the point that when we are talking about bills we have put forward we actually stick to the facts.

[Elections Modernization Act, December 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I first have a comment to make before I get to the question. Eighty-seven per cent of the recommendations by the Chief Electoral Officer are included in Bill C-76. My hon. colleague said that we only chose the ones we wanted, but we have included a huge number of good recommendations by the Chief Electoral Officer in this legislation.

In regard to his question about foreign interference, as he well knows, the standing committee on ethics has just released a report. I have been reading it. It is a very good report, with a lot of great recommendations. We recognize how important it is to make sure that we protect Canadians' privacy, and we will be looking closely at and addressing those recommendations shortly.

[Elections Modernization Act, December 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, when Bill C-76 was first drafted, it denied foreign interference during writ and pre-writ periods or foreign funding in partisan activities. An amendment from PROC came forward that would now disallow any type of foreign interference partisan activities, no matter when they take place. I think this is really important, because we are all very concerned about what is happening around the world with foreign interference in elections, and we want to make sure that our democracy is protected.