COUNCIL VOTES TO END RUSSELL TRANSPO SERVICE " $ 5 6 " - * 5 4 r / & 8 4
C.-R. RURAL RESIDENTS STILL SUFFER POOR INTERNET SERVICE
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
i8FBSFUSZJOHUPUIJOLPVUTJEFPGUIF box,” Cousineau told council, regarding the efforts of his department and city administration to find solutions to the problem. 8BSE$PVODJMMPS%JBOF$IPJOJÍSFPC - served that both the provincial and federal HPWFSONFOUTLFFQQSPNJTJOHUPJNQSPWF rural broadband access but with little or no success so far. “They promised everybody,” she said. “They cannot promise something and then not provide the funding for it. You need (high-speed) Internet everywhere now.” 8BSE$PVODJMMPS"OESÊ+-BMPOEFUPME DPVODJMUIBU$MBSFODF3PDLMBOEOFFETUP NBLFTVSF UIBU JU JTPO UIF MJTUPGDPN - munities that all the major Internet service companies have when they consider future service improvement projects. Cousineau agreed. i8FEPUSZUPHFU JODPOUBDUXJUIUIF Bells and the Videotrons of the world,” he said, “so that they do not forget $MBSFODF3PDLMBOEu Council members discussed the DVSSFOU FGGPSU CZ UIF &BTUFSO 0OUBSJP 3FHJPOBM/FUXPSL &03/ HSPVQ UPDPO - firm partnership funding and support for its planned Gig Project to raise Internet TFSWJDFMFWFMTBDSPTT&BTUFSO0OUBSJPUP the 50mbs/10mbs level. They also noted UIBUJOTPNFSFHJPOTPG2VÊCFDUIFSFBSF local improvement projects in progress for rural Internet service.
Lack of access to high-speed Internet service for rural areas of Clarence- Rockland occupies the mind of council members. $MBSFODF3PDLMBOEDPVODJM SFWJFXFE a report during its December 21 com- mittee of the whole session from its IT Director Michel Cousineau on the state of broadband service for rural areas of the municipality. Cousineau’s report noted that the level of Internet service for many rural SFTJEFOUTPG$MBSFODF3PDLMBOEiIBTCFFO and continues to be, a source of frustra- tion” despite two decades of “limited success” from senior-level government funding programs aimed at improving rural broadband service. The report noted that the pandemic has aggravated the situation for many resi- EFOUTXIPOPXIBWFUPXPSLGSPNIPNF and are dealing with a broadband connec- tion “far under the acceptable threshold of 50mbs (megabytes per second) download and 10mbs upload standards laid by the government.” Cousineau also noted that the situation is not just a problem for people already living in the rural areas around the villages of St-Pascal-Baylon, Cheney-Hammond, and Bourget, but also for individuals and families who want to move to Clarence- 3PDLMBOEGPSJUTSVSBMMJGFTUZMF
Le conseil du Canton de Russell a annulé le contrat pour le service de transport Russell Transpo. — photo d’archives
STEPHEN JEFFERY stephen.jeffery@eap.on.ca
funds coming through us are being used to lower the cost for everybody else.” $PVODJMMPST+BNJF-BVSJOBOE.JLF5BSO - PXTLJWPUFEJOGBWPVSPGUIFNPUJPOUPDBODFM the contract and cited both the uncertainty of the suspension period, as well as the number of federal public servants who would SFUVSOUPQIZTJDBMXPSLQMBDFTJO0UUBXBBOE Gatineau once the pandemic ended. i8JUIVTOPULOPXJOHXIBUTHPJOH UP happen with the [federal] employees, this gives the private sector all the time in the world to revisit the program and they can then decide if they want to service the region with a bus service to Ottawa on their terms,” Laurin said. Andr é Brisson and Cindy Saucier voted against the cancellation and expressed sup- port for continuation of the Russell Transpo service. “It is an essential service we’re providing and we’re providing a good service,” Saucier said. “It’s better for the environment, you’ve got less cars on the road, you’ve got less accidents, people are safer… there’s many, many pluses to providing a service PGUIJTLJOEu *OIJT UJFCSFBLFSWPUF -FSPVYWPUFE JO favour of the amendment to cancel the con- USBDUi*EPOUUIJOLBOZCPEZIFSFJTTBZJOHXF EPOUXBOUUIJTTFSWJDF uIFTBJEi8IBU*N saying is, does it have to be publicly funded , when it’s privately funded everywhere else and there are zero taxpayer dollars going into the company.” 417 Bus Line director of operations Mario Laplante said he was disappointed with the council’s decision and said the municipal service had been a major attraction for new residents. “It’s too bad the mayor and councillors didn’t have enough vision for their own municipality and cancelled that,” he said. “It’s a loss for us, it’s a loss for my employees, it’s a loss for the community.” Laplante said the company would con- sider operating a private service between Russell and Ottawa from the end of next year, but warned that the route would change BOEGBSFTDPVMECFIJHIFSi8FXPOUIBWF the federal grants to help us cover the cost of the transportation,” he said. “The hours and price will change big time for Russell compared to what they were paying for. That’s what we expect depending on the demand and depending on how open the federal offices are.”
Russell Transpo will cease operations from next year after the township’s council voted to cancel its contract with the operator. The township’s administration had recom- mended a suspension of services during 2021, due to lower demand during the pan- demic, before a gradual return in 2022. But, in a three-two decision, councillors voted to instead cancel the contract for the service with 417 Bus Line. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown in March, buses regularly transported about 225 residents to and from downtown Ottawa and Gatineau. After a suspension of servi- ces between May and September, Russell Transpo ran only one bus on the routes. In the report presented to the council recommending the suspension of services, &DPOPNJD%FWFMPQNFOUEJSFDUPS%PNJOJRVF Tremblay said Russell Transpo had grown in popularity before the pandemic and had been a factor in some new residents’ deci- sion to move to the township instead of PUIFSOFBSCZNVOJDJQBMJUJFT8IJMFTQFBLJOH before council, she pointed to a survey of 124 Russell Transpo users, in which 63.7 percent said they would use the service again in 2022 after a one-year suspension. “I feel that it’s not the appropriate time to use the COVID situation to end a service that could have been profitable at the end of the year of 2021 [if the pandemic had not happened],” she said at the council meeting. The administration’s recommended proposal, including the 2021 suspension, followed by a gradual return to services from 2022 to the expiration of the contract in mid-2023, would cost $524,520. The cancellation of the service, however, would cost $274,576, including the six month’s OPUJDFSFRVJSFEUPUFSNJOBUFUIFDPOUSBDU Mayor Pierre Leroux, who suggested the amendment to cancel the contract, raised concerns about the township using public funds for a bus service when neighbour- JOHNVOJDJQBMJUJFT TVDIBT5IF/BUJPOBOE Casselman, did not. “The increase in fees XBTDMPTFSUPUIFNBSLFUSBUF ZFUJO$BT - selman, in Limoges, in Saint-Isidore, there’s OPNVOJDJQBMDPOUSJCVUJPO uIFTBJEi&JUIFS we’re paying way too much or the public
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