Provincial Investment in Internet Infrastructure - Question Period
MS. CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : My question is for the Minister of Business. The $120 million investment to bring high-speed Internet to our rural communities is so important. With such large public investment, Nova Scotians want to be sure the benefits will remain in the hands of Nova Scotians.
All of us have seen the high costs associated with P3 schools and the privatization of Nova Scotia Power. It's a discredited and expensive route, and we don't need to go down it again. The middle mile infrastructure is an opportunity for us to get it right.
Mr. Speaker, will the minister commit to ensuring that the public will own this infrastructure since the public is paying for it?
HON. GEOFF MACLELLAN « » : I do thank the member for the question. I did listen intently to some of her comments around this topic at late debate and the fact that she alluded to the money leaving the province.
Mr. Speaker, look, it is a reality that because of the challenges of broadband and getting the service to remote places in all areas of Nova Scotia, we have to make investments. There isn't a private sector business model that would do that in all provinces, quite frankly, so we're making a very big investment on behalf of the people of Nova Scotia.
Of course by way of the Internet trust and by way of the third party corporation that will run these programs, we're going to invest this on behalf of Nova Scotians, so it will certainly be public infrastructure. Of course, there's a number of ways and requirements to make sure of that accessibility and having access to this particular infrastructure is open to anyone who could access it to provide additional services.
It is a very good question. This is for Nova Scotians. It's not for the private sector to make profit. This is about getting broadband to our people.
MS. CHENDER « » : With respect, if it's not a co-operative local enterprise, the profits will not remain with Nova Scotians.
Mr. Speaker, I hope this government, if they need an example of this, will listen to the inspiring and clear message coming from the Municipality of Annapolis. When they saw market failure in rural Internet, they took matters into their own hands. In Lawrencetown, community members got together and formed a co-operative. Those volunteers worked with the municipality to build their own last mile infrastructure, and now the village owns the infrastructure, and the co-operative runs the service. The profits and control stay in the community. I'll table that.
In a news clip, residents said they were getting twice the speed for almost half the price. What is most important, in the words of resident Diana Ackroyd is, it's ours, it belongs to our community. I'll table that.
Mr. Speaker, I'll ask again, will the minister commit that the province's spending will support community assets and community control, or at least look into it before we commit to a private partner?
MR. MACLELLAN « » : Simply put, philosophically here, we're making an historic investment in broadband. I don't feel that we're giving it away to corporations. I don't think that we're doing anything other than the right (Interruption) Sorry?
AN HON. MEMBER: Just do it right.
MR. MACLELLAN « » : Yes. Of course the Opposition wants us to do it right, Mr. Speaker. But believe it or not, we are intending to do it right. We are going to do it right.
AN HON. MEMBER: Be sure you have enough to do it.
MR. MACLELLAN « » : Right, yes, thanks for the lesson. We'll make sure that we learn from their mistakes, Mr. Speaker, and we get it right.
Mr. Speaker, this is a major problem, there is no benefit for us to do anything other than get this investment in the hands of the communities. The municipalities are going to play a critical role here. We need them to tell us what projects they require in the communities on the ground. That's exactly what we're going to do.
This money - $120 million and a whole lot more to get to that $500 million finish line - it's for Nova Scotians. They're going to tell us how we spend it, we're going to get them broadband. Thank you very much.
Published by Order of the Legislature by Hansard Reporting Services and printed by the Queen's Printer.
Available on INTERNET at http://nslegislature.ca/legislative-business/hansard-debates/