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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Colleagues,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I’ve had several private responses to this (I must admit that I’m (naively?) quite surprised that folks would think that this was a potentially sensitive topic of discussion).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Anyway, I’d be interested in more comments either on the list or privately before I reply to my colleague in Ottawa on this. Note that I’m spurred by what I’ve seen so far to do up a blogpost with some personal reflections/critiques/praise-songs for CAP and (with permission) it would be great to have some (more) quotes/comments.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>(Note, that I think this discussion is not simply of theoretical interest. From some discussions with my Ottawa colleague and others it would appear that the Feds are currently looking for useful ways of spending their infrastructure funds and the $500 mill assigned to rural and remote Broadband. If CAP is in such bad repute in Ottawa as my colleague indicated then the possibility of funding for a CAP like program (as I was arguing for in my <a href="https://gurstein.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/repurposing-post-offices-as-community-innovation-hub-inclusion-equity-and-deconcentration/">Repurposing Post Offices</a> blogpost) would sadly and incorrectly I think, clearly be out of the question.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>(BTW, what I’ve heard privately so far on this is that one of the reasons CAP is in bad repute is that it was slagged significantly by the Harperites and these criticisms were absorbed by the bureaucrats who haven’t yet figured out that there is a new regime in town.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Thanks in advance,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>M<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'> Michael Gurstein [mailto:gurstein@gmail.com] <br><b>Sent:</b> April 28, 2016 11:25 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'advisors' <advisors@tc.ca><br><b>Subject:</b> CAP?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I’m having a back and forth with a colleague in Ottawa re: my blogpost on <a href="https://gurstein.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/repurposing-post-offices-as-community-innovation-hub-inclusion-equity-and-deconcentration/">Post-offices as Community Innovation Hubs</a> .<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In a recent email he made the following comment:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='background:white'><i><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>In your blog post, and some of the community informatics threads, I noted direct reference to the - now very clearly defunct - CAP program. Apparently, even mentioning that program is extremely problematic and strongly discouraged if you don't want everyone in Ottawa to go running. I'm not exactly sure why, but that's what I understand. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p style='background:white'><i><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>I must say that this rather surprised me. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>This is how I replied to him:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><b><i><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>It had some success in rural areas, less in urban areas (it was terribly terribly mismanaged) but for those involved and for a fairly large number of rural communities it was something of a success. It was one of the very very few Federal Programs which were delivered directly to communities to the Feds who really didn’t understand what they were doing (they set up and for a long time treated it as a training ground for e-commerce which it never was…<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p style='background:white'><b><i><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p><p style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Any comments or explanations why CAP should be in such disrepute in Ottawa (and is that consistent with the experience of others)?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>M</span><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>