[WSIS CS-Plenary] The Canadian Community Access Program for providing rural and urban public ICT access is Being Eliminated!

[Gurstein, Michael]

The new Canadian Government has decided to abandon its most ICT
vulnerable citizens and is defunding the (Community) public access (CAP)
program! An article concerning this can be found in:

http://www.herald.ns.ca/NovaScotia/530922.html

People with a concern about this might like to know that the email of
the Minister responsible Marcel Bernier is[Bernier.M at parl.gc.ca] and
that Peter Frampton [pframpton at lefca.org] with the Board of
Telecommunities Canada www.tc.ca is working on a campaign to have the
cuts reversed.

Of special significance in this context is that the Canadian Government
takes considerable pride in its repeated number one ranking in the
Accenture "e-Government rankings"
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2003/0408_e.asp.  

What this means is that the some 40% of the Canadian population
(disproportionately the elderly, the poor, marginalized youth, the
rural, First Nations aboriginal, recent immigrants), without in-home
Internet access will no longer have the means to freely obtain Internet
enabled public services and information.  Among the benefits the network
of some 3000+ CAP sites provided was assistance (through the CAP youth
intern program) to users in enabling access and effective use of these
services as for example completing registration and application forms
(forms for public benefits are in many instances only available in
electronic form!)

Attached are letters in English and French which are being sent in
protest to M. Bernier, the Minister responsible.

MG

Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.
Centre for Community Informatics Research, Training and Development
Vancouver, CANADA
http://www.communityinformatics.net
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