Ottawa is pulling the plug on its support for a program that helps connect Canadians to affordable Internet access at schools, community centres and libraries.
Industry Canada sent out letters on Thursday notifying program coordinators it would not renew funding for the Community Access Program or CAP, a service accessed disproportionately by lower-income Canadians, seniors and those with low computer literacy.
“The Community Access Program was launched in 1995 and has met its objectives,” said Margaux Stastny, a spokeswoman for Industry Minister Christian Paradis. “The vast majority of Canadians are now connected to the Internet at home, while many more have access through their mobile devices.”
Eric Stackhouse, chair of the Nova Scotia CAP association, said higher connectivity hasn’t changed the number of people who use CAP facilities in his town of New Glasgow.
“I’ve been around since day one with this program and the number of people using the CAP service and the training that has been provided has never stopped,” he said. “This year usage went up 30 per cent in our area.”
Many communities in Nova Scotia have hit hard times and Internet is one of the first things to go when family budgets get tight, said Stackhouse.
One-fifth of Canadian households were without Internet access in 2010, according to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Internet Use Survey.
The top reason for not having home Internet access was not needing or being interested in using the web. Cost, lack of a computer and lack of skills were other impediments to home internet access.
The program saw the federal government team up with provincial and territorial governments, community groups, libraries, senior centres, schools and volunteer groups to provide Internet access to thousands of Canadians.
But without the federal government’s support the program won’t survive, at least not in Nova Scotia, according to Stackhouse.
The 30 per cent of CAP centres in libraries may have a chance at surviving, but the others will likely disappear, Stackhouse predicted.
The program also helps provide jobs to young people aged 15 to 30. In Nova Scotia, CAP centres provide 250 youth a year with part-time employment.
“Our government will continue to support youth internships at community Internet sites,” Stastny said.
Stackhouse said he doesn’t see how all the jobs will be preserved if there isn’t anywhere for the young people to work.
Stackhouse said this is the third time the program has been on the chopping block, but it was saved after public outcry – something that is happening again.
“People are howling to their members of Parliament, but it’s a different ball game with the majority government,” he said.
Stastny said the government will still support schools, libraries and non-profits through its computers for schools programs.
She also said the government is helping connect more Canadians to the Internet through efforts like the spectrum auctions it announced in March.
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