Marc Serré

[Community of Verner, December 9th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in recognition of the community of Verner's 125th anniversary in 2020.

It is important to me to recognize my francophone heritage in Ontario. I would like to pay tribute to all the individuals who have played key roles in French-speaking Ontario and to our francophiles. There are those whose actions have had a detrimental effect on the growth and development of francophone communities outside Quebec.

I am proud of my Nickel Belt ancestors: my Aubin and Serré great-grandparents, who immigrated to Field and Sturgeon Falls in 1870, and my Racine and Éthier great-grandparents, who came to Verner and Cache Bay in 1880. I am proud of my grandmother, Victoire Aubin-Trudel, a descendant of the Mattawa/North Bay Algonquin First Nation.

Ontario's francophonie is deeply rooted and very much alive. I am grateful to the leaders, communities and volunteers for their dedication.

Congratulations to Verner on 125 years!

[International Plowing Match and Rural Expo, June 12th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud that my hometown of Verner, Ontario, is hosting the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo, September 17 to 21.

This close-knit community and municipality of West Nipissing boasts plenty of outdoor activities and wonderful northern hospitality. The amazing staff and volunteers are why this town was perfect to host this international agricultural event, which attracts tens of thousands of people from across Ontario and Canada. It is the second time in 100 years that it is in northern Ontario.

I am proud of the municipality of West Nipissing for hosting this incredibly important event. It makes the community so proud. I invite all members to come out to share in our joie de vivre and meet the region's pioneer families, like the Beaudrys, the Éthiers, the Côtés, the Roberges, the Rainvilles, the Mirons, the Lepages, the Demerses, the Ducharmes, the Gingrases, the Brunets, the Guénettes, the Lebeaus, the Leblancs and the Cazabons. I urge my colleagues to join us in Ontario for the biggest festival of 2019.

[Business of Supply, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we set aside funding for the frequency band spectrum, and 44% of this amount is for rural areas. That is a large amount. This is the first time the federal government has made such investments.

The member does not have to believe me. She can talk to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which supports our plan. The federation advocated for us to continue the investments that we made in 2016 and that we will continue to make. We must continue to work for Canadians to ensure that every Canadian is connected to the Internet.

[Business of Supply, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is to the contrary. In 2012, the Conservative government cut the rural secretariat completely. We are not only adding a minister dedicated to rural development, but, as I indicated earlier, the connect to innovate program had 4.4 billion dollars' worth of proposals and we had a fund of $500 million. Because it was oversubscribed, we were able to get additional funds in budget 2019. Therefore, we are making a difference. We have now added $1.7 billion to the universal broadband fund, looking to the future and the long term. We are working with the private sector and the provinces to ensure that, together, we get all Canadians connected.

[Business of Supply, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we have taken action.

Since early 2016, the connect to innovate program has brought Internet service to 900 communities and 190 indigenous communities.

Not only did we take the necessary steps back in 2016, but in 2019 we added another $1.7 billion to the funding. In addition, the Minister of Finance developed an accelerated fund for companies, to which online businesses already have access.

The NDP motion has nothing concrete to propose. We, however, have actually invested in the spectrum. We also have a long-term plan for working with the provinces and the private sector to ensure that all Canadians are connected.

[Business of Supply, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and member for Mississauga—Malton. I thank the minister for the work he has done on the Internet access file over the past three and a half years. For the first time in the history of Parliament, we have a minister responsible for rural economic development. It is essential for our government to continue the work we are doing in rural areas.

I am pleased to rise to speak to the NDP motion on the accessibility of broadband Internet services for all Canadians. My riding of Nickel Belt covers 30,000 square kilometres, so I understand the importance of the Internet in rural areas.

Our government also understands the importance of broadband service. All Canadians must participate in today's digital economy. Whether it is our children when they are doing their homework, our friends, family or businesses, it is important to ensure that all Canadians have access to the Internet so we can remain competitive exporters.

The Minister of Rural Economic Development and I travelled across the country. We heard from Canadians living in rural and remote communities. The Internet is the engine of future growth and development in rural regions.

We recognize that rural, remote and northern communities face unique challenges when it comes to connectivity, which is why we launched the connect to innovate program in 2016, to bring high-speed Internet to rural and remote communities all across Canada.

This program received more than 900 applications across the country, requesting $4.4 billion of funding by the time the applications were closed. This oversubscription is a clear indication that the need exists in Canada for future investments in better connectivity. It is also an indication of the popularity of this program across the country.

This is why in budget 2019, we added top-up funding to the program connect to innovate. To date, a total of nearly $560 million in connect to innovate funding has been announced for 175 projects in 11 provinces and territories. They all cover projects in the future looking at all provinces and territories.

Further, this funding has also leveraged the private sector, and this is important. The government's role in the Internet in rural Canada is to ensure that we find ways to leverage private sector funding and funding from the provincial level. The provinces need to get engaged with the private sector, the federal government and municipalities in order to make sure that we get everyone connected.

Together with our partners, we expect that the connect to innovate program will deliver a total of over $1 billion of incremental investments in broadband projects, which is very significant. We have to talk about these investments. These projects will improve Internet connectivity to more than 900 communities and 190 indigenous communities. This is more than triple our original target of 300 communities.

These investments mean that about 1,100 anchor institutions in communities will benefit from new access to high-speed networks. This includes places like libraries, community event centres and band offices. These anchor institutions are key in communities to seek real improvements in connectivity when dealing with education, health and other needs in the community and the private sector. These investments are really important for growth in rural Canada and all across Canada.

Connectivity investments are impressive in the sheer scale of their geographic reach. Nearly 20,000 kilometres of fibre network has already been installed or is in the process of being installed. This is equivalent to the distance from St. John's to Vancouver through Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Labrador City and back to St. John's.

Further, individual Canadians will feel the impact of improvements in the services delivered to their homes. These projects will impact an estimated 380,000 homes. This is a huge investment in homes across the country.

Connect to innovate supports many of these great projects, and I would like to take a moment to highlight a few of them.

The Kativik Regional Government in Nunavik received $62 million in connect to innovate funding for new and improved high-speed access to all of Nunavik's 14 Inuit communities. This project will impact 28 institutions, including schools and health centres.

Tamaani Internet performed a detailed marine survey of fibre routes for Nunavik communities for the first undersea fibre optic cable deployment in Arctic Canada. It is now implementing this project.

Also, in northern Ontario, the connect to innovate program invested $39 million with five first nations communities. It is important to connect these communities. Looking at the importance of future mining development in the region with the Ring of Fire, this provides future economic development for these first nations communities.

As I mentioned, 190 indigenous communities are receiving support through investments made under the connect to innovate program. The indigenous communities themselves will manage these networks to make improvements throughout their communities.

The connect to innovate program has also had a very significant impact on rural Internet service providers. Not only will the connect to innovate investments help big Internet suppliers innovate, but one-third of these investments will go to small local suppliers who live and work in the small communities they serve.

Even with the progress made to date, we recognize that we need to do more work. That is why we have made the commitment to set a national target for 90% of Canadian homes and businesses to have access to high-speed Internet with at least 50/10 megabits per second by 2021, and 95% by 2026. No matter where they live, from coast to coast to coast, all Canadians will be able to access high-speed Internet.

To attain this goal, in budget 2019 we also established a new universal broadband fund of $1.7 billion, which will bring high-speed Internet to under-serviced communities. We are working on the parameters of this new fund, with more information to come over the next few weeks.

As previously mentioned, the new universal broadband fund will include a top-up to the connect to innovate program. It also includes funding to low-earth orbit satellites, next-generation satellites. That is significant and important, because we are looking at remote areas and the challenges we have with connecting Canadians all around.

The success of the connect to innovate program and the universal broadband fund demonstrate that our government has a high-speed Internet plan for people no matter where they live. It is important to look after the needs of rural communities across Canada.

We have a plan for the digital economy and we are working hard to carry it out.

[Business of Supply, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am having a little difficulty understanding the NDP motion. Obviously we are familiar with the problems the New Democrats have raised, but I do not see any solutions in their motion. Did they read budget 2019? It includes an accelerated capital cost allowance for businesses. We also expanded the infrastructure fund, adding Internet services and cell towers to the eligible categories, which is a first. We also set aside $1.7 billion, despite the member's claim that there was nothing in budget 2019. On top of that, to support innovation, we invested in Telesat to look at the entire country. We also worked with the CRTC, which created a $750 million fund.

Did the NDP members read budget 2019 and see the concrete measures it includes?

Will they acknowledge the action we have taken to change the situation with respect to Internet access?

[Telecommunications, June 7th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, our government has made tremendous progress in delivering infrastructure across the country, and has approved 4,800 projects to date.

We patiently wait for the Ford government to act on this and prioritize these projects, which it has failed to do in a timely manner and in a collaborative way, even after we have extended the deadlines.

We welcome this long overdue interest on infrastructure by the government and we are discussing the proposals with it, evaluating them properly. Instead of playing political games on these much-needed projects, we must work together to ensure that the needs of people are met and that we put shovels in the ground.

[Franco-Ontarian Games, May 27th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, 106 Franco-Ontarian secondary schools took part in the largest annual event for Franco-Ontarian youth in the province, the Franco-Ontarian Games, which have been held every year for the past 26 years. This year's games were hosted for the first time by the community of Hanmer, in Valley East, which is in my riding of Nickel Belt.

This three-day event showcases the talents of francophone students in eight areas of the arts and physical activity. This gathering under the white and green flag perfectly demonstrated these students' pride and spirit of co-operation and gave them the opportunity to show off their talents in various sports, cultural activities and the performing arts.

The Franco-Ontarian Games gave participants and volunteers the opportunity to immerse themselves in French heritage, language and culture, while reminding these leaders of tomorrow of their origins and what it means to be French Canadian.

[Benoît Serré, May 16th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honour the memory of my uncle Ben Serré. He lost his battle with cancer on May 11. He was surrounded by his two daughters, Ginette and Julie, sons-in-law Michel and Ken, and grandchildren, Stephanie, Melanie, Erik, Darren and Miguel.

My uncle served as Liberal MP for the riding of Timiskaming—French River and Timiskaming—Cochrane from 1993 to 2004, following in the footsteps of his older brother, my father, Gaetan Serré. I am truly humbled and proud to have followed their paths.

Uncle Benoît was dedicated to advancing his community's interests. He was proud of his indigenous, Algonquin and northern Ontario roots, and he was their voice in Ottawa. He was a passionate hunter and fisher and a proud francophone with a good sense of humour. Most importantly, he loved his family deeply.

May Uncle Benoît, a kid from Verner and Desaulniers, rest in peace.

Meegwetch.