Indigenous legal advocates in northwestern Ontario are sounding the alarm over the Ontario government’s cancellation of its contract with Starlink, citing concerns with people’s access to legal services in remote First Nations.
Last month, Premier Doug Ford announced he’d be ripping up the $100-million deal with Elon Musk’s internet provider, as a retaliatory measure in the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.
But in northwestern Ontario, this means the end of the Starlink-Navigator Program delivered by Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation (NALSC), which “permitted community members, who often do not have access to internet, or reliable internet, an opportunity to participate in virtual courts.”
There is no Canadian alternative that can provide a service like Starlink. I live in a rural area, and they’re literally the only way I can get a reliable internet connection. I’ve tried Xplornet and Mobile Broadband, neither can provide a reliable connection, or are have prohibitive bandwidth caps.
I’m not even that far from Toronto, I’m technically still in the GTA. There are no cell towers nearby due to the community protesting against them going up. I’m lucky to get a single bar on a clear day.
I’m all for using a Canadian alternative, but there just isn’t one for a lot of people.
What about wired, if you’re in the GTA? I remember a few years back Bell offered free hookup if you signed up for Fibe. Don’t know if they still do it, or what sort of restrictions there are, but it seemed to be a blanket offer at the time.
In the first place, this is an issue for legal cases, and I think that the province providing a temporary connection to those who need virtual court services makes more sense than giving Musk 100 million to give everybody permanent internet. This doesn’t stop anybody who has no viable alternatives for day-to-day use from using Starlink, just that I think it’s not the province’s business spending so much money for a small selection’s decisions. The cities already massively subsidize rural Canadians, so I can’t help but feel like this is a poor way to give a much needed service to those in need.
We don’t need to give all rural Canadians free internet at a cost of 1.5% of the entire provincial budget.
Wired isn’t an option. ISP’s no longer 56k service over phone, nor Broadband DSL.
Fibre requires a main trunk line nearby, which are typically routed through cell towers. No cell tower, no fibre or cable service.