COVID lockdown exposes shortcomings

GLACE BAY — Coronavirus-related stay-at-home measures are exposing the weakness of internet service in rural Cape Breton, says a CBRM councillor.

Amanda McDougall, whose sprawling district is comprised of mostly country and coastal communities from Birch Grove to Louisbourg, is calling on Cape Breton Regional Municipality council to pressure higher levels of government to provide a timeline as to when improved internet and cellphone service will be available to rural residents.

The Main-a-Dieu-based councillor said she's hearing from many constituents now working from home who are becoming increasingly frustrated with unreliable, inefficient and, in some places, unavailable connections. And McDougall added that the same applies to students who are studying from home.

“It's really hard to do your work at home when you don't have reliable internet, when you don't have cellphone service and when your landlines can go out with a really good gust of wind,” she said.

“People are telling me they have heard and are grateful that the federal and provincial governments keep talking about investing in rural internet, but this is the time when we need it most and we don't have it.”

McDougall's request will officially appear on today's regional council meeting agenda as a resolution that if passed will see the CBRM step up calls on the province and Ottawa to address the issue.

For the record, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) recently established a $750-million fund called Closing the Digital Divide in Canada, while Develop Nova Scotia is responsible for managing a strategy to provide unserved and underserved Nova Scotians access to high-speed internet. The latter also manages the $193-million Nova Scotia Internet Funding Trust.

Meanwhile, the 1:30 p.m. council session, which will be conducted via teleconference and will be live streamed on YouTube, is expected to be a lengthy affair with a wide array of topics on the agenda.

CBRM solid waste manager Francis Campbell is scheduled to provide an update on the various garbage issues. Discussions will include further examination of the “call to haul” alternative to heavy garbage and the possibility of permitting extra black bags as part of the five-bag limit during the pandemic.

Also, deputy chief administrative officer John MacKinnon will address council on the Nova Scotia government's property tax financing program and the engineering department will explain the CBRM's cost-share paving agreement for J-Class roads in the municipality.