Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to rise this evening to follow up on a question I first asked in this place on November 23, 2018, regarding high-speed Internet for rural communities.
Certainly my riding of Perth—Wellington is one of those ridings that still has too many pockets where it is still impossible for families, small businesses, local farmers and farm businesses to access reliable high-speed Internet. In 2019, it is completely unacceptable that so many Canadians still lack reliable high-speed Internet.
When I originally asked my question back in November of 2018, the Auditor General's report entitled “Reporting on Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas” had just come out. In that report, it states:
Many detailed examinations of the state of broadband access in Canada have recommended that the federal government lead the creation of a national broadband strategy. However, the government has not agreed to take that step. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (the Department) knew the extent of broadband access across the country and had programs and other initiatives focusing on Internet access in rural and remote areas. However, we found that it did not have a strategy in place to improve access for almost 3.7 million Canadians.
That report simply confirmed what the people in Perth—Wellington already knew: that the government is failing rural Canadians when it comes to rural high-speed Internet.
We live in a world that is dependent on effective and reliable high-speed Internet. It is no longer a luxury but a necessity, and it is a necessity for those who live in our riding. Unfortunately, I know too many people in my riding who have to rely on two separate Internet providers to ensure they have Internet when they need it. It is frustrating for families, farmers and small business owners when they do not have access to the Internet.
I know the government will try to tout some of its past programs, such as its Connect to Innovate program. Here are the facts. In my riding alone, I know of at least four projects that have been waiting since the fall of 2016 to hear back on their applications one way or the other, either positively or as a rejection. These applications were due in November of 2016, yet we still do not have the results one way or the other.
That is unacceptable for the small local ISPs in my riding that are trying to do their best to provide high-speed Internet for their communities.
In fact, one of the local service providers in my home community has been able to put high-speed Internet fibre to each farm, farm business and household on its own within its incumbent local exchange carrier, its ILEC. It did that. However, it cannot expand beyond that to the areas where the big telecom companies have failed to bring fibre to Perth—Wellington communities that are lacking it because the current government is failing to act on that matter.
I want to highlight some of the local initiatives that have done so much.
The SWIFT initiative, for example, is working to bring high-speed Internet across the community. Services and organizations such as the Wellington County Library are now lending mobile hot spots. One of its most commonly used services is high-speed Internet mobile hot spots, which it loans out so that families can have access to high-speed Internet.
However, the current government comes out with no meaningful plan. It has come out with a 2030 plan, yet it has no resources to actually connect rural Canadians to high-speed Internet. Therefore, I again ask the government why it is failing rural Canadians when it comes to high-speed Internet.