With regards to the Broadband for Rural and Northern Development Program Pilot Program: (a) how much did the program cost on an annual basis; (b) did the government achieve its stated goal of universal access by 2005 and, if not, what level of coverage did it achieve, overall and in each participating community and what factors prevented the program from attaining universal access; (c) for what reasons was the program not expanded beyond the pilot stage; (d) which communities participated in the pilot project, what funding did each community receive on an annual basis and what level of accessibility did each recipient community achieve; (e) what was the funding allocation, broken down by province; (f) what is the current level of broadband connectivity in each area that took part in the pilot program; (g) according to province, which communities are still without broadband access and how many of those are First Nations; (h) on a per capita basis for the last five years, how does access to broadband in rural and northern communities compare with Canada’s major urban centres; and (i) what strategies is the government currently undertaking to improve broadband access to rural and northern communities and what resources have been committed to such initiatives?
In the House of Commons on June 19th, 2009. See this statement in context.