Pontiac voters demanding affordable Internet access
When Carl Hager calls his phone company to discuss his Internet bill, he usually yells to his wife to bring the Tylenol before he dials.
While he likes to joke, he says living with expensive high-speed Internet service in small-town Quebec is a headache-inducing ordeal — particularly when customers in Ottawa-Gatineau, just 35 kilometres southwest, pay about one-third of the price.
“About six weeks ago I was sitting on my deck and I had just got my bill and it’s $500 bill for the one month, most of it for Internet service because it is extremely expensive,” said Hager, a retired teacher who figures his usage is moderate given he doesn’t watch movies online. “I thought that was extremely unfair.”
Bell doesn’t service Hager’s area of Beech Grove, just outside of Quyon, with its Fibe cable, so the only option is costly satellite service.
He is one of thousands who share this frustration, which is why cellphone and Internet access has become a hot-button topic in the Pontiac riding during this election.
High-speed Internet service is either spotty or non-existent in rural corners of the riding, and cell service is particularly bad along highways 117, 148, 301 and 303.
In 2011, the United Nations declared Internet access a basic human right, and given that access affects economic prosperity, all three of Pontiac’s leading candidates agree that a community with zero access will not thrive.
“In a recent report it was revealed that both the (municipalities of ) Pontiac and Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, located in the riding, have the two lowest Internet access rates in the province of Quebec,” said Mathieu Ravignat, the New Democrat incumbent who’s running for re-election. “This is wholly unacceptable and clearly the Conservative plan is not working for them.”
Ravignat says expanding broadband infrastructure to rural and remote communities has been on his radar during his four years in office and that the New Democrats will invest $100 million over the next four years to get Canadians connected.
However, Conservative candidate Benjamin Woodman argues that it’s the NDP’s representation in the riding that has failed constituents.
“When I’m out door-knocking, I hear residents of the Pontiac who … want to be able to communicate with their government institutions, they want to have access to the tools that are available to help them find work, train or apply to programs to help their businesses grow,” said Woodman.
On July 30, Industry Canada announced that the government will provide up to to $147 million to 13 companies and organizations to connect more than 65,000 homes throughout Quebec to faster Internet services. In the Pontiac region, three companies are expected to expand or enhance service through the Connecting Canadians program in dozens of communities, including Gracefield and Grand Remous.
Woodman says a re-elected Conservative government would set aside a further $200 million to support major new investments in fibre broadband infrastructure in rural and remote communities.
When Liberal candidate Will Amos knocks on doors in areas like Messines, he says voters there feel forgotten.
“(They say) where is the member of Parliament? Where is the government? Where is the sense of urgency from our current member of Parliament and from this government in ensuring this access?”
He says municipalities need help to fund investments that will enable better access to data, and with it, more competitive pricing. And the private sector needs incentives to deliver improved bandwidth right to doors.
Amos — who polls suggest is in a tight race with Ravignat — says he would be a credible broadband champion given his legal experience working with the CRTC, the government body that has a role in the placement of cellphone towers.
“In order to represent communities you need me to have a sophisticated understanding of who you need to focus on in order to get results,” said Amos.
Shortly after Hager received his $500 Internet and cable bill, he saw a newspaper ad for a $99.95-amonth Bell bundle that includes television, basic cable and unlimited Internet access. He said seeing that offer was like adding insult to injury because that package is not available where he lives — although he has since found a more competitive plan than what he had.
“I live 35 kilometres away from Ottawa and I’m charged this massive ( bill) because the government, the big companies just don’t care about us, they just want to make money,” he said.
“And it is very frustrating for someone like me.”