Chronicle Herald, Nova Scotia

CAP program to continue
Tories providing cash for this year
By The Canadian Press and Our Staff
Wed. Mar 17 - 4:53 AM

Marilyn MacKay is seen on the CAP site computer in Bev’s Country Diner in Upper Stewiacke on Tuesday. (Tim Krochak / Staff)

 
A week after telling libraries and community groups across the country that the long-standing funding for public Internet access was disappearing, the federal Conservative government now says it was all a misunderstanding.

Industry Minister Tony Clement told reporters Tuesday that $13 million in funding for the gutted Community Access Program will survive under a different name, at least for this year.

The 16-year-old program sends about $4,000 each to libraries, centres that serve youth, seniors and the unemployed, and many other sites so they can provide free computer and Internet access to Canadians who need it.

"We certainly regret any confusion that has been caused to some of the recipients of this money," said Clement. "It is being funded through a different program and it is in fact continuing."

But Clement’s office made no mention late Monday of the continued funding in a response to a series of questions posed by The Canadian Press.

Instead, it underlined the fact that the program had "fulfilled its mandate" of bridging the digital divide and that the $15 million had been cut to $2 million. That same response was echoed in the House of Commons earlier Monday by Science Minister Gary Goodyear, again with no mention of the change in funding.

Groups had received letters informing them that if they were a public library or an organization within 25 kilometres of a public library, they were no longer eligible for funding. The new criteria hit rural areas hard, where many community organizations are clustered in the centre of town and near a library.

The opposition declared it a flip-flop.

"We’re hearing a totally different story," said Niki Ashton, the NDP’s rural and community development critic.

"I know from my region and organizations across the country that they were notified that they would be getting a cut in programming.

"We’re glad to see a recognition that this is important but at the same time, this was a real case of this government taking rural Canadians for granted. Was it rural outrage that sparked the change? I’d like to know."

Reaction to the funding-cut notice was swift, with politicians and community groups across the country.

Bev Andrews is worried the CAP site at her Upper Stewiacke restaurant will shut down.

Everyone from tourists to school kids use the site, which has been running for five years at Bev’s Country Diner, she said.

"Sometimes it is a mother with her kid coming in because they need a (school) project done. People come in for Internet access because they don’t have it at home — there are still a few of those people around."

There are 209 sites in the province which depend on Industry Canada funding.

Eric Stackhouse, chairman of the Nova Scotia CAP Association, said communities that administer the programs plan to let Industry Canada know the funding is necessary.

"First of all we are encouraging people to contact their MP to let them know they value the service," said Stackhouse, who administers the CAP program in Pictou and Antigonish.

Just because the Internet is available doesn’t mean people have it, said Stackhouse, who is also the chief librarian at the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library.

There are over 1.5-million hours of use at the CAP sites annually in Nova Scotia, he said.

"The CAP sites in my libraries are full. They are used all the time," he said.

Karen Parusel, of Nova Scotia’s Department of Economic and Rural Development, said she received a letter from Industry Canada late last week advising of the funding cut.

"It was a shock," said Parusel, the province’s Community Access Program co-ordinator for the past 15 years.

The federal government currently contributes about $750,000 annually to the program. It also contributes another $750,000 annually for the hiring of summer students at CAP sites around the province, Parusel said.

She did not know if the money for the students was safe.