Mixed reaction to federal budget
Funding to improve Internet connections for Northern Canadians slammed
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, February 17, 2014
NUNAVUT
The federal government's budget is garnering mixed reaction in Nunavut, where some people believe the numbers represent more smoke and mirrors than anything else.
John Thomas, general manager at Qikiqtaaluk Information Technology Corp. (QITC), said the government's pledge to invest $305 million over five years to improve broadband Internet service for Northern Canadians is a waste of money.
"No end user will ever actually have true five megabits per second (Mbps) download speed performance improvement because of this subsidy as the Internet feed is a shared network feed amongst all the Internet service providers' (ISPs) customers, so the shared feed is saturated and has a throttled down effect," he stated in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North.
"Present users who pay for supposedly 2.5 Mbps or five Mbps speeds from Qiniq or Northwestel don't actually get those download speeds now, so the feds throwing another $305 million into continuing this subsidy.
"This announcement will only just give the appearance that things will improve, when in fact, throwing more money at a subsidy will do nothing for the improvement of Internet performance when it is satellite dependent and ISPs have not done much of anything to improve their own distribution networks."
According to Thomas, the funds would be better spent if it was aimed at improving better backhaul infrastructure options, like terrestrial or submarine fibre optic instead of continuing the dependency on satellite infrastructure.
Internet speeds have long been a contentious issue in Nunavut, where users have been known to pay hundreds of dollars in monthly bills.
Arctic Fibre is planning on building a high-speed undersea fibre optic cable system that would run through seven Nunavut communities and connect to London and Tokyo, with the hopes of reducing dependence on satellite connections.
The $620-million project's targeted completion date is December 2015 but the company hopes to be up and running by the end of this year.
Thomas said the federal funds were a waste of money and just prolong "the poor service and performance we're already experiencing."
Also included in the Economic 2014 federal budget is a $40-million investment over two years to renew the Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (SINED) program.
"SINED focuses on enhancing the economic infrastructure of the territories, developing the capacity of Northern organizations and individuals to help them take advantage of economic opportunities, promoting economic diversification, and increasing dialogue on Northern economic development issues," the federal budget states.
Rowena House, executive director of the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association, said she is pleased with the budget as it relates to arts.
"The renewal of SINED is great news for Nunavut, not only the arts sector but all sectors, to help in the economic development of the territories," she said.
"Also, the $25 million to Canada Council for the Arts annually is great news as we work with Canada Council and will access their program funds for our artists to participate in workshops and to travel to exhibitions of their artwork.
"Also, the renewal of the Canadian Heritage suite of programs is good news for Nunavut as we often access their funding for our projects, such as the presentation fund."
The fund helps NACA stage various festivals throughout the year.
In an attempt to dissuade Canadians from smoking, taxes on tobacco have been increased to the tune of roughly $4 per carton, or 50 cents per pack of cigarettes.
Nunavut has the highest rate of smokers in the country, with approximately 60 per cent of residents who smoke, according to a 2011 report by Statistics Canada.
That's approximately three times the national average of 19.9 per cent.
Other funding of interest to Nunavummiut is the $70 million that will be invested over three years for a "new, targeted and time-limited fund to increase health services in the three territories in priority health areas and to reduce the reliance on outside health care systems and medical travel."
Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq said Nunavut would be getting the largest chunk of that funding.
"Probably $35 million, closer to $40 million of that funding," she told Nunavut News/North on Feb. 13.
"It will focus on areas that are the most challenging in the deliverance of health care."
In 2013, the Health and Social Services Department spent approximately $53 million on medical travel costs and it is forecasting the allocation of $58 million this year.
In comparison, it spent roughly $42 million in 2006-07 and $39.4 million the year before.
The federal government also pledged to work with the territories to continue developing transportation infrastructure in the North, and enhance funding for Nutrition
North Canada.
