Establishing a Connection with Telecom Policy -- round table discussion

Toronto, May 8.  Making Media Public

Canada does not have a national strategy to guide communications policymaking in this rapidly changing world of ubiquitous online networks.  As a consequence, our rating in such important measures as accessibility to broadband networks, speed and cost of communications are rapidly tumbling down the international scales.  In a recent study of broadband policies around the world, Canada ranks 22nd overall, 16^th in access, 20^th in speed and 25^th in price.¹ Estonia and Finland have declared broadband Internet access as a legal right and Australia has recently created a publicly-owned company to build a national high-speed broadband network, wherein $43 billion AU will be spent in one of the largest state-sponsored Internet infrastructure upgrades in the world.²

It is clear that the Canadian federal government cannot continue to let this policy area languish in neutral gear.  At stake is nothing less than the economic and social health of our communities. 

In this roundtable presentation, communications scholars and advocates will describe and contextualize some of the issues and challenges facing Canadian legislators today and offer ways to address the growing deficiencies.  The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives will be releasing a book collection of short thought-provoking pieces on this topic in early May, edited by Moll and Shade, which is primed for a probable election-time release, and potential contributors will be culled from this collection.

Organizers:

Marita Moll, Research Associate, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Leslie Regan Shade, Concordia Univ., Dept. of Communication Studies and Research Associate, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives