As part of trimming the federal budget, funding has been cut to Community Access Program grants. These grants help bring internet access to members of society who cannot afford (or are otherwise unable) to have access at home. Libraries across Canada are looking for wiggle-room in their budgets to keep the service available, but ultimately this will lead to unequal access from region to region. Take a look at some of the affected communities:
Original Link:
Friday, April, 27, 2012 - 7:07:16 AM
LPL board upset over CAP funding cancellation
By Mallory Clarkson/London Community News/Twitter: @MalloryClarkson
Following the cancellation of a federal funding program, a member of the London Public Library (LPL) Board said the organization’s resources are going to be thinned to fill the void.
Jerry Colwell, LPL board member and the director of client services at Pathways Skill Development and Placement Centre, added the cancellation of the Community Access Program (CAP) grant — which was launched in 1995 to maximize the accessibility of computers and the Internet at pubic access points, like the library, across Canada — will have a significant impact that will be felt across the city.
Read more at the original link: http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/04/lpl-board-upset-over-cap-funding-cancellation/
Feds slash public access funding
Federal budget cuts aimed at the Burns Lake Public Library's public access computers could mean locals will no longer have access to free internet time at the library.
Head librarian Elaine Wiebe said the eight public access computer stations are well used by the public and losing the $3,400 in annual funding will be a big financial blow to the library's budget.
Industry Canada cancelled its public computer funding on March 31, 2012, and termination of the program will result in a $515,000 cut in funding to 135 Community Access Program sites in public libraries across the province, including Burns Lake.
( Read more... )Read more at the original link: http://www.ldnews.net/community/148754965.html
NEWS: Nunavut April 23, 2012 - 1:40 pm
Bring back the CAP: NDP
New Democrats say remote communities need the recently-cut Community Access Program
NUNATSIAQ NEWS
Romeo Saganash, the MP for Nunavik, and a member of the New Democratic Party, says the Conservatives should reverse their decision to eliminate the Community Access Program, which provides free access to broadband Internet for low-income Canadians living in remote areas, including many communities in Nunavut.
“The elimination of the CAP is all the more absurd as it comes as the Conservatives call for unemployed Canadians to use the internet to receive their benefits and find work,” Saganash said in an April 23 news release.
Read more at the original link:
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674bring_the_cap_back_ndp/![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
