Indigenous communities deserve internet on their terms

With the Universal Broadband Fund, the federal government has committed to addressing the connectivity gap that is far too real for many people. Over the past nine months, COVID-19 has demonstrated how important the internet is during a crisis.

Broadband has become as essential as access to electricity. Maryam Monsef, federal minister of rural economic development, was correct when she said: “High-speed internet is more than just a convenience.”

Certainly, an investment of $1.75 billion to help lower the hurdles that have left many communities on the wrong side of the digital divide is needed and welcome. But officials need to take care not to disenfranchise the very communities they intend to help.

For the most challenging communities to connect, success can only happen with community-led initiatives. It is critical that the communities most in need are full partners in the process, driving connectivity solutions that work for them, and have access to the resources to make that happen.

This is an opportunity, not only to ensure everyone has access to this essential service, but to reach that goal through true collaboration. In Canada, Indigenous communities are vastly underserved. The majority of on-reserve homes — more than two-thirds — do not have high-speed internet.

Across the North, the problem is particularly pronounced; the CRTC reported that in 2019, fewer than half of Nunavut households have download speeds of 5Mbps, let alone the government’s target speed of 50 MBps.

Before COVID-19, the lack of access had disastrous effects, limiting opportunities for education, work, economic development — the list goes on.

The pandemic has amplified all that. Students on reserves in northern Ontario resorted to fax machines in the absence of reliable internet. The digital divide now plays an even larger role in widening economic, educational and social divides.

The Internet Society’s annual Indigenous Connectivity Summit produces recommendations that highlight basic needs, such as accurate broadband mapping so underserved communities are identified in funding programs, as well as accountability measures to ensure internet providers offer the bandwidth access they’re supposed to.

More fundamentally, participants call for an increase in Indigenous workers within companies and organizations, and capacity-building in communities in order to operate their own networks. They insist upon the rights of Indigenous governments to the spectrum — the radio waves upon which internet traffic travels — over their lands.

The pandemic has magnified the harm caused by a lack of internet access and requires a bold response to minimize the damage. The government has indicated its willingness to “accelerate” its efforts, but if it intends to reach true digital equity, it is vital to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities — empowering them to own and maintain their own infrastructure.