Extend Connect to Innovate deadline for local gov’ts: QC Opposition MPs

Conservative members of Parliament from Quebec are asking the federal government for an extension to the application deadline for its Connect to Innovate program, saying the two-month turnaround is too short for small municipalities that want to take advantage of the new rural broadband funding envelope. Bernard Généreux, the Opposition critic for economic development in Quebec, said in a phone interview Friday that he’ll be sending a letter to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains upon his return to Ottawa Monday for the winter sitting of Parliament, asking for a two- or three-month extension. On Thursday, Généreux, who represents the riding of Montmagny-L’Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup, gathered with his fellow Quebec MPs in Quebec City during the party’s caucus retreat to denounce what they called the “unrealistic deadline” for submissions to the Connect to Innovate program, according to a press release. Bains announced the details to the program — the creation of which was first signalled in last spring’s budget — on Dec. 15. Applications are accepted between Jan. 16 and March 13, but those two months, compounded with the time shaved off from the holiday season, aren’t enough, the MPs argued. “There is not enough time, technical skills or human and financial resources for communities to sign up for the program before the deadline of March 13, 2017,” the release said. “The realities facing municipalities have clearly not been taken into account.” The issue of not having enough time for rural local governments was the first item on the agenda when the 12 Quebec caucus members met during the retreat Wednesday morning, Généreux said, prompting the group announcement Thursday. Généreux said he met with representatives from the 58 municipalities in his riding on Jan. 19 and had a videoconference with an ISED official about the rural broadband program. “And after we hung up with them on Skype, people were saying in the room, ‘well how can we apply in two months? It’s impossible,’” Généreux added. One of the concerns is that the target areas are likely to have a small staff that may not have the necessary experience to put together a project that’s eligible for funding under the new program. “So they’re going to need help, and to employ or hire someone to go and help them is going to take time as well,” Généreux said, adding that the municipality would then have to go and start a competitive bid process. “And actually, we had some people from Telus who were there and they said in Quebec they do business with about 500 municipalities out of the 1,100. And they said ‘well we’re not going to contact all the municipalities, we’re going to do it through the MRC ,'” Généreux added. That adds an additional time element, he explained, if a project is organized through the larger regional county municipality (MRC) instead of individual municipalities themselves, as each municipality within an MRC would have to give its consent (there are four MRCs in Généreux‘s riding). “In Quebec, it works differently than the other provinces, so I don’t know exactly if they’re facing the same problem,” he said in response to a question about whether he's heard of concerns from colleagues representing other parts of the country. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. Some municipalities may have had a head start in that they had already put together a project for the previous Connecting Canadians program that they could rejig to fit Connect to Innovate, said Généreux, but that’s not the case with everyone. And the fact that the rural broadband program was announced in the March budget wasn’t useful until there were actual details to work with, he added. “We agreed that the program is OK… we’re not asking for more money,” Généreux said. “What we’re saying is if the small municipalities want to apply, they need more time.” Innovation Canada did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Extend Connect to Innovate deadline for local gov’ts: QC Opposition MPs

News | January 27, 2017

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Extend Connect to Innovate deadline for local gov’ts: QC Opposition MPs

News | January 27, 2017

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