The Last Word
When Ben offered me the chance to be a guest writer for this month’s Last Word, the topic that occurred to me first was Canada’s slow progress with high speed internet.
Where’s the John A. MacDonald of this century? Where’s the vision to unite our vast country not with railroad steel, but with fast, affordable web connections?
Without a first-rate communications infrastructure, Canadians will continue to lag behind other nations who are rapidly developing new products and services. Think about what Nokia has done for Finland.
And yet here we are, tangled in bureaucracy and narrow business interests, unable to keep up with other, smaller countries. Do we even realize how poorly we are doing, compared with Japan and South Korea, for example?
We need federal leadership that will push past lobbyists to tie Canada’s population together into a network of connections that is second to none. We need to spread that network to include small communities everywhere, available to everyone.
Come on, Canada. We’ve got spine but it’s no good without a nervous system.
–Bill Andersen
August 31st, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Go to it, Bill!
Ben
August 31st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
For a modest beginning, let’s get rid of the CRTC. It is a stumbling block to progress. Sign the petition at http://www.dissolvethecrtc.ca.
Dr. Michael Geist is making a very good effort to inform Canadians about the issues of internet service, copyright law and digital rights management. I think he deserves our attention, support and appreciation. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/
And let’s let our MPs know that we care about these issues. An election is not far away, considering the minority situation in parliament. I’d like to see the Canadian internet become a hot topic.
I want to hear promises to build the infrastructure of THIS century, not just for the sake of our economy, but for our social fabric.