Press Release
Conservative cuts will put 71 Million Dollars for Rural Broadband in Northumberland-Peterborough South and other projects on the chopping block
Andrew Scheer’s plan to make $53 billion in cuts, including $18 billion in deep cuts to infrastructure, could mean cancelling the Rural and Northern Infrastructure Stream of the Investing In Canada Plan — putting jobs at risk and preventing building 317 new telecommunications towers and an additional 32 local internet access points to improve overall mobile coverage for residents of Eastern Ontario.
“The Conservative cuts platform has no money for the Rural Stream of the ‘Investing in Canada Plan’ — and that’s unacceptable,” said Kim Rudd, the Liberal candidate in the riding of Northumberland-Peterborough South. “What’s worse, the Conservatives will use these savings to give a $50,000 tax break to millionaires. This is history repeating itself: a vote for Andrew Scheer is a vote for Stephen Harper’s decade of underinvestment and neglect of Eastern Ontario.
Scheer’s plan for cuts will be four times deeper than Doug Ford’s cuts in Ontario. For our area, that could mean losing:
? $71M, halting phase one of the ‘Investing in Canada’ project that would involve building 317 new telecommunications towers and an additional 32 local internet access points to improve overall mobile coverage. ? Phase two, identifying capacity gaps that result from heavy user traffic, upgrading equipment to reduce network overloads and improve service quality in rural communities. ? Once complete, the project would have improved mobile coverage for more than 1.1-million residents in 102 Eastern Ontario Communities, allowing businesses to grow and reach new markets (and, over 10 years, potentially create 3,000 full-time jobs).
“Now we know why Andrew Scheer waited until the Friday night of a long weekend, at the end of the election, to release his cuts plan. He thinks Canadians won’t notice a number like $53 billion,” said Kim Rudd. “But the people here in Northumberland-Peterborough South won’t have the rug pulled out from under them — not when it comes to projects that make our community a better, safer and cleaner place to live.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
