cover image: Conquering the Next Frontier in Bridging the Digital Divide - Ian Scott

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Conquering the Next Frontier in Bridging the Digital Divide - Ian Scott

18 Jun 2024

7 Conquering the Next Frontier in Bridging the Digital Divide Indigenous and northern communities remain woefully behind the rest of Canada in terms of the availability of internet at speeds needed to take full advantage of essential services such as health care and education. [...] A lack of co-ordination within the federal government and between the federal government and the provinces and territories also impacts the length of time it takes to identify and fund projects. [...] It is particularly noteworthy (and praiseworthy) that the CRTC has explicitly included reconciliation as a regulatory objective in the proceeding, stating that “Reconciliation is one of the Government of Canada’s and the CRTC’s commitments to renewing the relationship with Indigenous Peoples, based on the recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership” (p. [...] Finally, as recommended by the Office of the Auditor General (2023), the federal government should collect and analyze data, including consideration of household income, to measure progress against the affordability objective of its connectivity strategy — in addition to its goal of expanding adequate internet infrastructure to 98 per cent of households by 2026 and to 100 per cent by 2030. [...] Improving high-speed access in Indigenous and northern communities and providing an improved financial benefit to low-income households should be the key priorities in the government’s efforts to conquer the next frontier of the digital divide.
Pages
28
Published in
Canada

Table of Contents