The Conservative MP for Huron-Bruce says the Rural Broadband Strategy isn’t going anywhere.
Ben Lobb was commenting after Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement did an about-face and announced funding for Internet access for community groups will stay.
Clement says the Rural Broadband Strategy will foot the bill for community access sites like libraries while his department’s Community Access Program is wound down.
The move came after the national media reported on letters informing the groups that sites located within 25-kilometres of a public library would no longer be eligible for funding.
Lobb says the decision to send out the letters rested with the Ottawa bureaucracy.
Lobb says the letters originated within Industry Canada and that he can’t comment on bureacratic decisions he’s not involved with.
Lobb says the Rural Broadband Strategy is important to rural areas like Huron-Bruce.
Lobb says the riding is well-served in most areas and that the funding Industry Canada has committed to the initiative is money well-spent.
Lobb says funding from Ottawa makes a difference in ensuring Huron-Bruce remains competitive.
Lobb says there are still gaps in Internet service in some parts of the riding and that’s why funding has been apportioned in the way that it has.
The original announcement that funding would be cut off was met with anger by Bruce County Library System CEO Marzio Apolloni.