Is High-Speed Internet a Basic Right? Canada Is Debating That Now

Do all Canadians have a right to affordable, high-speed broadband internet? That’s the focus of a three-week hearing starting on April 11 in Gatineau, just outside Ottawa, where officials and advocates from every side are debating the future of Canada’s connectivity.

Given that there’s still a lack of basic Internet infrastructure in parts of rural and northern Canada, and the prices we pay for telecommunication, these are big issues for everyone. “Canadians pay some of the highest prices in the industrialized world for their Internet service and for their wireless service too,” said David Christopher, communications manager at OpenMedia. OpenMedia, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of open, affordable and surveillance-free Internet, is one of many groups making presentations throughout the hearing, including the Yukon government, Cree Nation Government and Eeyou Communications Network, and Rogers Communications. OpenMedia will be presenting on April 28. “The whole core of this proceeding is about whether or not all Canadians have a right to affordable broadband Internet,” he said. The goal is to give all Canadians access to a low-speed fixed Internet service, but accessibility has many facets—and also encompasses affordability and reliability, which is a problem in many parts of the country. “We’ve still got large swaths of the population who do not have Internet access in their home,” said Christopher.