Ottawa has raided its rural broadband fund to help pay for the popular Community Access Program that provides internet service to public sites in rural and remote Canada.
Liberals immediately questioned whether the Conservatives are backtracking on their 2009 budget pledge to use a $200 million fund to install broadband service throughout rural Canada.
An uproar erupted last week over an indication in the 2010 budget and letters to rural CAP providers that funding to keep rural internet service available in small-town schools and libraries was being cut from $15 million to $2 million.
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However, industry minister Tony Clement quickly called a news conference to say it was a misunderstanding.
“This program (CAP) is in fact being funded for this year,” he said.
“It is in the 2010 budget but the source of the funds is different from the previous year.”
He said the $13 million gap will be filled from the broadband fund.
“This is a piece of a broader rural broadband strategy we are pursuing,” he said.
“We have a $200 million pot of money designed for increased household access in rural and remote areas.”
The rural broadband fund was announced a year ago and is supposed to expire a year from now, but the industry minister said he is still reviewing proposals on how the money can be spent to help spread broadband service.
“I will be making some announcements soon.”
Rural New Brunswick Liberal Jean-Claude D’Amours said in a Liberal-issued statement that the government decision to “rob Peter to pay Paul” has upset his voters.
“Taking money from the rural broadband strategy to pay for CAP amounts to punishing my residents for the government’s fiscal incompetence.”
The Liberals note that no money has been spent from the $200 million pot during the past year. Dipping into it to maintain public-space internet connection is the first use of the fund.
If the broadband fund expires as planned at the end of March 2011, the Liberals asked, does the CAP program that now depends on it for funding also expire?
Liberal industry critic Marc Garneau called the raid on the broadband fund a form of “political damage control” as the government responded to outrage caused by the letters to rural schools, libraries and community centres that announced reduced CAP funding.
He said Clement should explain the about-face.
“And what will become of the rural broadband strategy if it is robbed of its funds to cover CAP?”
Clement said it was all unnecessary confusion.
“This government believes that we need to have access in rural and remote areas of the country to internet and broadband services and this program will continue,” he said.
