OTTAWA – On Thursday, February 21st, as just about everybody else in Ottawa was watching the Clerk of the Privy Council defend the Prime Minister in front of the Justice Committee over the SNC Lavalin affair, another meeting just as important was taking place in front of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
That hearing was about connectivity in rural and remote areas following up on a Report from the Auditor General tabled in November. The first meeting had been held on December 12th but was interrupted by a vote after representatives from the Office of the Auditor General, ISED and the CRTC read their opening remarks, but faced no questions.
Thursday’s meeting started with the representatives reading the same opening remarks, which certainly helped give a sense of déjà vu to that meeting.
The Auditor General’s Report had concluded that there is no National Strategy for Broadband in rural areas; that the allocation of funds was not transparent nor is the Connect to Innovate program for broadband improvement implemented in a way that ensured the maximum broadband expansion for the public money spent – and did not include a way of mitigating the risk of government funds displacing private-sector investment.
Jerome Berthelette (assistant auditor general, office of the Auditor General) began, as he did in December by saying that:” Over the past 12 years, detailed examinations of the state of broadband access in Canada have included recommendations that the federal government lead the creation of a national broadband strategy. However, at the end of our audit, the government still hadn’t agreed to take that step. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada indicated that it was reluctant to establish a strategy with an objective that couldn’t be reached with the available funding.”
That triggered questions from MPs on why there is no strategy. John Knubley (deputy minister, Department of Industry) did his best to explain that before setting a strategy, you need to establish goals, which the CRTC has done recently in its Basic Services Objectives proceeding that set an objective of 50 megabits per second download and 10 megabits per second upload. That decision was released in December 2016.
Discussions with provincial governments have taken place and they are almost complete but Knubley would not commit to timelines – and that sounded like déjà vu with former Conservative Minister of Industry, Christian Paradis, who constantly promised a National Digital Strategy but never delivered one.
A strategy would create expectations if the necessary budgets were not provided, the DM added. (Ed note: How can you get a budget if you don’t have a strategy?). An official from ISED mentioned the preliminary estimate to cover all the gap areas would be $8 billion. ($7 billion for deploying broadband and $1 billion to cover major roads).
“We will let Canadians decide.” – MP Dan Albas
The discussion then turned to CRTC chair Ian Scott, who was accused by committee member Conservative MP Dan Albas of cutting down the Commission’s speed target from 50 Mbps to 25 Mbps by second when it comes to the requirements for gaining access to the CRTC’s $750 million rural broadband fund.
Scott said he was happy with the question since it would allow him to correct a misunderstanding for which the CRTC had been criticized in some media reports. He explained the Broadband Fund would allow for applications for 25 Mbps in exceptional circumstances where providing 50 Mbps could not be built before the end of the program. There would remain a funding condition, however, which says as soon as it is possible to go to 50, speeds would be raised.
Scott’s explanations did not convince the MP and the discussion ended with Albas saying: “We will let Canadians decide.” (Ed note: A quick reminder this Parliamentary session is the last before the Federal election coming in October.)
Back to the question of the lack of a strategy, Conservative member Dan Kelly said “if you have a strategy, a public strategy and the Government won’t fund the strategy, then it is a political question and one for the voters.” (Ed note: These committee meetings are well-known for politicians giving statements rather than asking questions…)
David Christopherson, the NDP member for Hamilton went further in pursuing the lack of strategy concluding that for the first time in his 15 years of being on that committee, they might need to call in the Minister since the lack of a plan and funding is really a political decision.
At times acrimonious, this meeting did not bring about any solutions nor a better understanding of these issues (Ed note: Shocker!), but it surprised us that no one marked the passing, on February 2nd of Michael Ferguson, the late Auditor General. This was his report they were talking about, after all.
Just as surprising is the fact that no Liberal MP on the committee, as a defence, mentioned the appointment of a Minister of Rural Economic Development on January 31st, Bernadette Jordan. Part of her job, according to her mandate letter is to “lead work to increase high-speed broadband coverage in rural Canada. This includes the rollout of existing investments, programming towards further improvements, and ensuring that investments by the Government of Canada, provincial and territorial partners, and the private sector are co-ordinated to best prepare rural Canada for success in the digital economy.”
The Committee, which is traditionally chaired by a member of the official opposition will issue a report on its examination of the Auditor General’s Report later this year.
