I’d like to thank the member opposite for her leadership and advocacy to support a critical need in housing. We heard it through the last election and we know that our municipal counterparts heard it through theirs. For years, Ontarians have struggled to find attainable home ownership. Parents and grandparents are looking in the eyes of their children, wondering if they’ll ever have a place to call home. And if we’re going to be honest with ourselves, Speaker, that means we need to build the critical infrastructure to support that housing growth. Simply put, Ontarians deserve reliability and strong environmental oversight for simple actions like turning the faucet on or flushing the toilet.

It’s not sexy, I know, but for years, the previous Liberal government ignored this critical infrastructure needed to give people the dignity of a roof over their head and a place to call home, and for years, these regions struggled to meet their population growth numbers because of neglect by the previous Liberal government. Well, I’m proud to say that under the leadership of this Premier and this Minister of Housing, we’re solving the problem. We are getting shovels in ground on the roads, the bridges, the houses and, yes, the critical water and waste water infrastructure needed so that people can have a place to call home in the province of Ontario.

And finally, they’ve done the important work of looking at optimizing existing infrastructure. They’ve done excellent work, and that’s why our ministry is here, providing certainty for both regions, to support the growth, working with Indigenous partners to meet important duty-to-consult requirements. And, Speaker—

My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure.

Speaker, communities across eastern Ontario have been ignored for far too long under the previous Liberal government when it came to providing access to reliable, high-speed Internet.

As a former IT guy and a former member of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, I am very aware of both the need and the efforts the local people have put into accessing broadband.

Residents and businesses rely on reliable Internet systems for their day-to-day work, for children to learn and for residents to communicate with people across the world, among many other things. For those in remote and rural communities, the continued lack of reliable Internet services prevents many from achieving their full economic potential.

Our government recently made an announcement highlighting the investments made in high-speed Internet infrastructure.

Can the Minister of Infrastructure please update the Legislature on how our government is closing the digital divide for all Ontarians, no matter where they live?

This is great news for families and businesses across eastern Ontario.

Access to reliable Internet should be a necessity, not a luxury. Unfortunately, this is still not the case for many Ontario families, including many of my constituents.

As the minister previously noted, our government has a plan to bring high-speed broadband access to every Ontarian by 2025.

Can the Minister of Infrastructure please explain how our government plans to close this gap and achieve the goal of 100% connectivity for all Ontarians, especially those in rural Ontario?