Source

Automatically imported from: http://commons.somewhere.com:80/rre/1996/Canadian.Information.Hig.html

Content

This web service brought to you by Somewhere.Com, LLC.

Canadian Information Highway Advisory Council

``` ---

This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). Send any replies to the original author, listed in the From: field below. You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" command. For information on RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, send an empty message to rre-help@weber.ucsd.edu

---

Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 15:34:45 -0400 From: aa319@freenet.carleton.ca (Marita Moll) Subject: IHAC II - Alliance Press Release

Alliance for a Connected Canada

News Release

IHAC II, THE SEQUEL, Better be for the Public: Alliance Demands

For Immediate Release April 30, 1996

OTTAWA -- An alliance of public organizations from across Canada including libraries, consumers'groups and trade unions is demanding that the second round of IHAC puts people before profits.

The federally appointed Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC) issued its first report last year, and is expected to start a second meeting in June.

Marking Information Rights Week, the Alliance for a Connected Canada is demanding that the public is allowed access to the debate, and that public issues such as access, affordability and employment are given priority.

"Canadians are disturbed by the fact that all discussions and decisions regarding the Information Highway have been carried out without any attempt to involve the public in the debate," said Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians. "The decisions being made will profoundly affect all Canadians. This is scandalous behaviour for a government which was elected on a promise to end the practice of creating public policy behind closed doors," she said.

"We hope that the IHAC follow-up initiative will deal with public interest issues," said Marita Moll, co-organizer of the Public Information Highway Advisory Council. "The original IHAC Committee provided Canadians with little more than an industry strategy to accommodate the interests of the corporate players who were the majority at the table," she continued.

Brian Campbell, Chair of the Canadian Library Association Information Policy Committee, agrees. "Nothing in the IHAC report helps libraries provide access to the vast majority of Canadians who do not have computers and modems. IHAC II must commit the necessary resources to libraries and community networks so the public can have some chance at equity."

Members of the Alliance are concerned that the issue of affordability has not been addressed. "Right now, there is no guarantee that the benefits of the so-called "Information Highway" will materialize for the majority of Canadians," said Marie Vall‚e, Telecommunications Analyst for the F‚d‚ration Nationale des Associations de Consommateurs du Qu‚bec. "We need a clear and significant affordability policy in this country, otherwise the gap between the information "haves" and the information "have-nots" will increase and our society will be worse off."

Rod Hiebert, President of the Telecommunications Workers Union in British Columbia, participated in the first round of IHAC. "It seemed the Advisory Council only paid attention to the advice it received from self-interested corporations. The Council assumed that if things went well for big companies, everything else would fall into place," said Hiebert. "Because of the Council's adamant refusal to address a range of social issues, I ultimately demanded that my name be withheld when the final report was published."

"Now the government has announced that it is about to launch the second stage of the IHAC process," he continued. "If this process is to avoid the problems of the first, the Advisory Council must seriously tackle the real Information Highway issues: access, affordability and jobs."

Andrew Reddick of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre stated that the Alliance will be watching IHAC II closely. "Alliance members represent millions of Canadians who are very concerned about this process," he said, "This time the public interest needs to be served."

The Alliance for a Connected Canada formed in November 1995, also includes the Coalition for Public Information, Telecommunities Canada, the Information Policy Research Group, the National Library of Canada, the Assembly of First Nations, the Canadian Teachers' Federation, the Information Highway Working Group, the MacLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada and the Association pour L'avancement des sciences et des techniques de la documentation (ASTED).

* 30 -

For information or to arrange an interview, contact:

Marita Moll (613) 232-1505 Andrew Reddick (613)562-4002 ext.22 Marie Vall‚e (514) 521-6820 Sid Shniad (TWU) (604) 437-4822

---

Marita Moll Ottawa, Ontario aa319@freenet.carleton.ca ```

This web service brought to you by Somewhere.Com, LLC.