Very good. Thank you.
I believe our government highlighted, through the economic action plan, some of the incredibly good things the government has done. Of course, there is more to do, but I want to focus on what the federal government can do to help, and also provincially and municipally. What you represent, as a body, is the vast majority of municipal governments across Canada.
What role does a municipal government play? Well, they provide a form of consultation with the community as this infrastructure occurs across Canada. They are the body, the ears, and Industry Canada of course listens to them.
There's been a recent development of a protocol with you and the industry, and I think it's relatively new. Could you explain the purpose of that protocol and what the FCM is planning to do in encouraging local governments to provide guidance, a protocol, within the communities that may be consistent across the country, to provide some diversity options? How is this protocol going to work?
One of the challenges that I think many of the MPs around this table will hear is that there may be a proposed new tower in a community and there may be some people in the community who are not happy with that, so they go to their councillor and mayor and say they don't want that there. That would be the first line of defence, if they're trying to keep this very important infrastructure from happening.
What role would you see the FCM playing with municipalities in this new protocol in encouraging the facts to get out? For example, a resident would say that it will devalue their home; it will make their home harder to sell if they have high-speed Internet broadband access. In fact, it would be the opposite. If you lived in an area where you do not have access to the service in a very quickly changing industry, if you don't have access to that service in your area, it would actually devalue the home.
How is the FCM going to work with local government to make sure more and more Canadians are using the service? The more Canadians who access the service, the more the price of the service will decrease.