Ontario, Saskatchewan didn’t agree to ISED broadband strategy

Last week, ministers of innovation and economic development from three levels of government committed to working together toward internet speed requirements that match the CRTC’s basic services objective, but ISED confirmed Thursday that Ontario and Saskatchewan did not explicitly agree to the initiative. Ministers from the federal, provincial and territorial levels last Friday hashed out an agreement to develop a long-term strategy for connectivity, essentially to pave the way for initiatives like smart cities, connected cars, and e-health. Part of the initiative is to work toward “establishing universal access” of the minimum speed goals of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload as set out in the CRTC’s minimum basic services decision in late 2016. In that year, those speeds were available to 41 per cent of Canadians in rural and remote areas, the release noted. ISED did not specify which provinces were involved in the meeting on Friday in its press release announcing the deal. When asked, an ISED spokesperson provided a list of attendees, which showed that only Ontario and Saskatchewan sent no representatives. On Thursday, the ISED spokesperson confirmed that, in fact, Ontario and Saskatchewan did not explicitly agree to the initiative. Representatives close to the ministers of each of those provinces each had their own reasons for not attending, but did not answer questions as to whether they actually agreed to Friday’s meeting objectives. Jim Billington, press secretary to Saskatchewan’s premier Scott Moe, said in an emailed statement Monday that “there was not enough on the agenda to support taxpayer dollars being spent to go to 3.5 hours of presentations in Vancouver.” He added that officials from Innovation Saskatchewan as well as its minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor are in “frequent contact” with federal innovation minister Navdeep Bains and federal colleagues. He didn’t respond to a question about whether they agreed to the initiative or not. Sarah Letersky, a spokeswoman for Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Jim Wilson, also said in an emailed statement Monday that Wilson was “concerned” that the recently-formed continental trade agreement, the USMCA, was not included as a discussion topic in Friday’s meeting, given its significance for the Canadian economy. When asked about whether Ontario agrees to the nation-wide initiative, Letersky sent a campaign promise before premier Doug Ford was elected as premier that committed to spending $100-million in savings “to partner with providers in order to deliver cellular and broadband expansion across rural and Northern Ontario,” according to the May press release. Both provinces have shared similar criticisms with regard to the federal government’s plan to impose a carbon tax on the provinces. Earlier this week, the two signed a memorandum of understanding intended to pave the way for lower trade barriers between the two. Friday’s meeting comes a month after the CRTC detailed the specifics of its $750-million rural broadband fund that set the basement speeds at half the basic services minimum. The meeting also laid out other access needs, including mobile connectivity on major highways and roads. ISED noted there are “substantial gaps along unpopulated areas of major roads.” Indigenous representatives argued at a conference earlier this month that there are gaps in government data leaving out some of those communities when it comes to quality coverage. On Friday, British Columbia announced Rogers Communications Inc. will build a new cell tower to provide wireless coverage along the Highway of Tears. The ministers also touched on the need to collaborate, share data and report publicly on their progress and to recognize the “unique circumstances” of indigenous communities. Last week, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities requested that the federal government up its five-year investment of $500-million for rural broadband to a $4-billion commitment over 10 years. “We agree to build on existing collaboration and work together to enhance connectivity for all Canadians, along with private sector partners, municipalities, public institutions, Indigenous communities, and non-profit organization to maximize the impact of our actions,” a federal government release said. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Ontario, Saskatchewan didn’t agree to ISED broadband strategy

News | October 29, 2018

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Ontario, Saskatchewan didn’t agree to ISED broadband strategy

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