I would like to thank my colleague from Hastings–Lennox and Addington for the question, and all the great work he’s doing in his riding.

Speaker, first I would like to thank the amazing ServiceOntario staff across the province for their hard work, many of whom I’ve had the privilege to meet in person since taking over this role. I have seen first-hand the incredible work they are doing across the province, providing services to Ontarians as our front-line individuals. A big thank you to our team members, the ServiceOntario staff.

This government has been able to launch new options and improve our services for all Ontarians, both in person and online. I’m happy to inform the members in this House that Ontarians can now use an improved appointment booking system, available at many of ServiceOntario’s busiest—

Furthermore, those who wish are now able to identify accessibility needs ahead of their appointments as part of our mandate to ensure that our services are available and accessible to all Ontarians. And we are just getting started, with new services being added online regularly. Led by our Premier, we are building ServiceOntario for tomorrow.

As I always say, every transaction online is one less person in line. This means that Ontarians can now book multiple services in a single appointment or conveniently book a single—

My question is for the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery. As we all know, under the previous Liberal government, access to vital services for drivers’ licences, health cards and birth certificates was not provided in an easy and convenient manner. This process made wait lines at ServiceOntario access longer and more burdensome.

In my riding, as in many others across this province, it can require many miles of travel to get to ServiceOntario. It should have been more efficient and respectful to our individuals, families and our front-line employees. More needs to be done to create a system that better serves and effectively supports individual needs. Accessing government services online is preferred by many and should not be complicated.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is doing to make improvements to ServiceOntario?

My constituents in Hastings-Lennox and Addington increasingly expect access to services online from the comfort of their own homes. As I noted, in rural areas, this is vitally important. We must keep pace with technology so that individuals can access information and book appointments at ServiceOntario from a digital device of their own choosing. We can’t afford to be an off-line government in an online world.

We’ve heard the minister say that our government supports modernization and innovation to improve the services that we offer. Will the minister please elaborate on how this recent announcement will make life easier for the people of Ontario?