Rural areas are suffering from lack of broadband creating a new digital divide. The feds need to step up and put some of the recovery money into building out infrastructure. Leaving it to the telecom/cablecom's is a waste of time. They're too busy fighting with each other in attempts to keep their monopolies going.

I tried to check the map for the Maritimes, but as an illustration of just how horrible my dial-up connection is it kept dropping the download before it could be completed... pathetic. We've been promised 1.5mbps 'broadband' speeds via an antiquated WiMax system through EastLink, but even that's months off. The only other option is satellite right now, and that has plenty of drawbacks and unfavourable pricing. Is 5-15 mbps really too much to ask in this day and age?

My cable Internet connection in Vancouver is very reliable and effective. It's been interesting to contrast that quality with the often sub-par speeds in some parts of Ottawa.

There is almost a noticeable difference in Internet culture in the Ottawa area. There are very few places where one can actually find a free wi-fi coffee shop there. Having come from Vancouver where there is nothing but free wi-fi I found this most annoying. The places in Ottawa that did have free connections still required me to get a print of their log-on info as if legions of people would sit outside their establishment and steal their scarce bandwidth.

All in all I'm not surprised to hear that many regions in Canada have poor Internet access. The federal government should prioritize this and invest in better connections for rural areas and free access to every major urban centre in Canada.

Jason Lamarche
LiberalMinute.ca