Minister of Rural Economic Development Bernadette Jordan
The federal government has unveiled their plan to grow Canada’s rural economies.
The plan places a heavy focus on getting high-speed internet to 90% of Canadian households by 2021 through an additional $1.7 billion in new funding.
Minister Of Rural Economic Development Bernadette Jordan says while access to high speed internet was the number one issue brought up as she crossed the country, rural Canadians also expressed their frustration their voices haven’t been heard in Ottawa.
“We haven’t had a rural lens at the table looking at every policy, every piece of legislation, every funding formula that we put together. We now have that. This is a critical piece going forward.”
Government is working to have all Canadians connected to high-speed internet by 2030.
Jordan says by establishing a Centre for Rural Economic Development, smaller communities will have better access to what the federal government has to offer.
“One of the things that we’ve also heard is they don’t want us to tell them what to do. They don’t want a top-down approach to how they grow their economy. They want to work in collaboration with the government.”
This is the first comprehensive plan from the Department of Rural Economic Development since it was created in January.
Thanks @RossFarmMuseum for being our host yesterday as we announced 🇨🇦 1st Rural Economic Development Strategy and the new Federal Connectivity Strategy!
Be sure to visit them next time you are in the area! There are fun activities for all ages, like a 🐴 Drawn Carriage ride! pic.twitter.com/j8sCAfjl2M
— Bernadette Jordan (@BernJordanMP) June 28, 2019
