Community internet access won’t lose funding: minister
Posted Mar 17, 2010 05:41:14 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The internet connection is not being broken at libraries and community centres across Nova Scotia – at least, not yet.
Organizations across Canada began receiving letters last week explaining sites located near a public library would no longer be eligible for funding for free internet access.
“Sort of a bombshell went off in all the libraries,” said Nova Scotia CAP Coordinator Karen Parusel. “There’s sort of a 25 kilometre zone around it where communities won’t be funded.”
Parusel says three-quarters of a million hours were clocked by people using the free service last year. The program is used by employment and youth drop-in centres, ESL groups, libraries, seniors and tourists.
She says news that the program was being axed was a complete surprise, and tells News 95.7 she was prepared to lobby the government to continue funding.
But late on Tuesday, a few days after the devastating blow, Industry Minister Tony Clement changed course.
“We don’t want to get anyone left in the lurch by having the funding cut this year while the broadband strategy to households is still rolling out,” he said. “So that’s why we’re still in a transitional period right now.”
Clement says a new rural broadband strategy launched last year will foot the bill for community access sites, such as libraries, while the old community access program is wound down.
