CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Thank you very much, Sherry Senis, Deputy Mayor, Township of Selwyn, for that kind introduction. It is great to be here, and I have to say how nice it is that we’re doing this announcement in one of my favourite places in the world—a library.

I would like to start by acknowledging that we are gathered on the treaty and traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig Anishinaabeg people.

I am so happy to be joined by my wonderful colleague, Maryam Monsef, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development; Kinga Surma, Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure; Dave Smith, Ontario’s Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (Northern Development and Mines) and to the Minister of Indigenous Affairs; and Andy Mitchell, the Mayor of Selwyn.

Access to high-quality, high-speed Internet is essential.

COVID-19 has brought that 21stcentury reality into sharper focus than ever.

We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced so many of us to stay at home, to stay away from in-person school and work, and to be apart from our family, our friends – the people we love.

This past year of living and working and studying virtually has, of course, reinforced our dependence on high-speed Internet.

Students have needed it for online school – something I saw in my own house.

So many of us have needed it to work remotely.

Small businesses have needed it to take their businesses digital—selling their products in online stores, or providing their services over the Internet.

Reliable high-speed Internet is absolutely essential infrastructure for the 21st century.

For rural and remote communities that do not have access to that – including communities here in Ontario – the pandemic has made life very difficult. And I know that you are worried about being left behind as the Canadian economy comes roaring back.

I am here today to assure you that our government will not let that happen.

We have an economic recovery plan that is about creating jobs and growth in communities everywhere in Canada. All Canadians and all Canadian businesses, wherever they are in our amazing country, deserve high-quality, high-speed Internet so they can fully participate in the economy and in the life of our country. Our government has a goal of ensuring that 98 per cent of our country will have high-speed Internet by 2026, and 100 per cent by 2030.

And today, we are making a big investment to accomplish precisely that!

I am delighted to announce that the governments of Canada and Ontario, in collaboration with the Canada Infrastructure Bank, have entered into a historic partnership that will bring high-speed Internet to nearly 280,000 rural Ontario households, in nearly 900 communities across the province, by the end of 2025.

This means that nearly half of all households without broadband are now on track to be connected.

This is a truly Team Canada effort that has been made possible by an equal federal-provincial investment totaling $1.2 billion. In addition, the Canada Infrastructure Bank is assessing opportunities to provide further financing on a project-by-project basis.

Whether Canadians live in big urban centres or small communities, broadband is central to our lives.

I am also pleased to announce that through the new Canada Community-Building Fund, formerly known as the Gas Tax Fund, the federal government has provided Ontario municipalities with over $850 million for this fiscal year, along with a top-up of more than $816 million. This total investment of $1.6 billion is double what Ontario communities received through this transfer last year, and will support infrastructure projects in municipalities across the province.

These two big announcements that we are here to make today are about helping Ontario communities to recover from the COVID-19 recession, to grow, to come roaring back, and to create great local jobs here.