[Advisors] Broadband in the Federal 2021 Budget

[Garth Graham]

Andrew Coyne, in today’s Globe and Mail, attempted to get a sense of Liberal policy priorities in the Budget by doing a word count:
> Perhaps some further statistical analysis will help. The word “support” appears nearly 1,000 times in the budget; “benefit” or “benefits” more than 1,300; “gender,” 740, “Indigenous,” 831. By comparison, the word “growth” appears just 280 times; “productivity,” 39, “competitiveness,” 13. …. So you begin to get a broad picture of the government’s priorities, or rather the lack of them. 

So I did a search in the 725 pages of the Budget 2012 for the word “Broadband.”  It showed up 20 times.  The relevant sections outlining the Federal Government’s intentions are as follows:

> Accelerating Broadband for Everyone (p.154)
> The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted much of our lives online and transformed how we live, work, learn, and do business. This makes it more important than ever that Canadians, including Canadian small businesses in every corner of this country, have access to fast and reliable high-speed internet. Canadians and Canadian businesses in many rural and remote communities who still do not have access to high-speed internet face a barrier to equal participation in the economy. Building on the $6.2 billion the federal government and federal agencies have made available for universal broadband since 2015:
> 
> Budget 2021 proposes to provide an additional $1 billion over six years, starting in 2021-22, to the Universal Broadband Fund to support a more rapid rollout of broadband projects in collaboration with provinces and territories and other partners. This would mean thousands more Canadians and small businesses will have faster, more reliable internet connections.
> 
> In total, including proposed Budget 2021 funding, $2.75 billion will be made available through the Universal Broadband Fund to support Canadians in rural and remote communities. Recently, the Universal Broadband Fund provided funding to ensure Quebec could launch Operation High Speed, connecting nearly 150,000 Quebecers to high-speed internet. These continuing investments will help Canada accelerate work to reach its goal of 98 per cent of the country having high-speed broadband by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030.


Here’s a possible entry point for making the case for community owned broadband
> National Infrastructure Assessment (p. 212)
> Twenty-first century energy systems, public buildings, broadband networks, roadways, public transit, and natural spaces all contribute to our long-term economic productivity and prosperity. But smart, resilient public infrastructure projects also require careful planning. To support Canada’s long-term infrastructure planning:
> 
> Budget 2021 proposes to provide $22.6 million over four years, starting in 2021-22, to Infrastructure Canada to conduct Canada’s first ever National Infrastructure Assessment. The assessment would help identify needs and priorities for Canada’s built environment.
> 
> This measure would improve infrastructure planning and help all orders of government make informed decisions about infrastructure projects that ensure we have stronger, cleaner, more resilient communities.


> Amendments to the Telecommunications Act to Facilitate Broadband Delivery (p.375)

> The government proposes to amend the Telecommunications Act to allow the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to share more information with federal, provincial, and territorial broadband partners and to take steps to avoid unnecessary delays in respect of CRTC decisions to allocate funding to recipients to expand access to telecommunications services in underserved areas.

…. and here’s why making the case for community owned broadband remains an up hill battle
> Impacts Report p.500

> Target Population:Rural and Remote Communities
> High-speed internet will provide benefits to Canadians living in rural and remote communities, where costs of services are often higher. Only 41 per cent of households in rural areas have access to internet speeds of 50/10 megabits per second compared to nearly 100 per cent of households in large urban areas. Faster broadband projects support diversity by enabling people to fully participate in online spaces, for people of different background to share resources, and build connections. High-speed internet can create new economic opportunities that benefit rural households and improve accesses to services, such as remote health and distance learning. Average weekly earnings of residents in large urban areas is estimated to be 15-25 per cent higher than average weekly earnings of residents in rural areas.
> 
> Similarly, Indigenous communities located in remote areas can expect to benefit from faster speeds and improved access to online services related to health and public safety.
> 
> Data Sources: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Statistics Canada