Of course, thank you very much to the hard-working member.

Mr. Speaker, we were re-elected to build Ontario and part of that commitment is making sure that everyone has access to high-speed Internet. Our goal was to connect everyone by the end of 2025. We have allocated $4 billion. We have invested $2.4 billion for 200 projects across this province.

I’m really happy to provide an update. As you all know, we executed on the reverse auction last year where we took lots that were not connected. We put it out to the market, and through that reverse auction we intend on connecting 266,000 premises.

Mr. Speaker, I’m really pleased to say that White River in northern Ontario now has access to high-speed Internet, thanks to the Premier’s leadership in making sure that everyone is connected by the end of 2025. This is really important because this just proves how important connecting northern communities is to our government, and we will get the job done.

Given the size and the topography of Ontario, we knew that in order to connect every single household in the province of Ontario, we would have to explore all different types of technology and look at innovative solutions.

Mr. Speaker, to close the gaps, we are exploring satellite technology. In fact, on behalf of the province of Ontario, Infrastructure Ontario has led a new procurement. They have now narrowed it down to two satellite providers, and in the summer, we will announce the satellite provider that will connect the remaining 43,000 premises. These are the hardest-to-reach places. These are the remote communities. These are the municipalities that are surrounded by rock. Every option was explored, and we are on our way to connect every home by the end of 2025.

Thank you very much to the hard-working member. And you’re right: We are building this province.

Mr. Speaker, our ministry met with over 50 different rural municipal partners at the ROMA conference. That is in addition to past ROMA meetings and AMO meetings and the consultations that occur in between. But what was very clear was the need for water infrastructure: the need for drinking water, waste water and stormwater infrastructure. You cannot build housing without connecting them to the pipes that flow clean water, discharge dirty water and treat that waste water.

In the fall economic statement, we announced the $200-million Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund. The intake for applications opened at the end of January, and we encourage all municipalities in the province of Ontario to apply.

Two years ago, we knew that the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, a program that was very successful and benefited many communities represented by members here in the House—we knew that all of the dollars would be allocated. For the last two years, we have been advocating and working and starting that conversation with the federal government to encourage them to give money to support Ontario infrastructure projects. Even the big city mayors as well as AMO wrote letters of support, stood behind us and lobbied the federal government. Unfortunately, we saw nothing in their fall economic statement. We have seen nothing in their budget.

But to the communities across the province: Do not feel discouraged. We just released $200 million. There is an intake process. Please apply. The province is here to support you in growing your communities and enabling housing across the province of Ontario.