The Information Highway becomes even more accessible to Prince Edward Islanders with the addition of new Community Access sites on the Island. Representatives of the province and Industry Canada announced here today a "Community Action Framework for Enhanced Island Community Access to the Information Highway." Members of the Wellington community, war veterans, and federal and provincial government representatives were on hand for the announcement.
"The federal government is helping Canadians to connect to the Information Highway, to develop relevant Canadian content, and to acquire the employability skills to exploit the Internet," noted Mr. Joe McGuire, Member of Parliament for Egmont, on behalf of Industry Minister John Manley. "Under the new Framework for Cooperation, the federal and Prince Edward Island governments will work towards a comprehensive network of Community Access sites to access the Information Highway."
As part of the enhanced access framework, Acadian and Francophone regions of P.E.I. are being linked together on the information technology network with the establishment of the Francophone Telecommunity Project, to be run by Wellington's community access group, the Société éducative du l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard.
"The Knowledge Economy offers tremendous opportunity for development at the community level," said Pat Binns, Premier of Prince Edward Island. "This community access site and the work being done here is a further example of the benefits of governments working together in cooperation with the community organizations and members. It is a reflection of the success that can be achieved by working cooperatively."
During the event, a demonstration was given of a project resulting from the community access program. The guests were introduced to "Honouring A Nation", the Vimy Internet feature on Veterans Affairs Canada's web site which commemorates the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Industry Canada through its SchoolNet Digital Collections Program and Veterans Affairs Canada jointly funded the project. Its creation was a co-operative effort, involving various representatives from community, provincial and federal levels. The Community Access Group, the Morell Region Community Learning Centre, researched and developed the site's historical content.
The Société éducative du-l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard, contributed by learning a new web site technology to develop a virtual visual tour of the Vimy battlefield tunnel system.
Through Industry Canada's Community Access Program (CAP), the federal government is promoting economic and social development in rural and remote communities through affordable public access to the Information Highway. The 1997 federal budget added an additional $30 million to CAP, and expanded its national goal to connect up to 5,000 communities by fiscal year 2000-01. As well, under the federal Youth Employment Strategy, CAP sites will be able to develop employment opportunities for up to 1,000 young Canadians between 15 and 30 years of age.
"Honouring A Nation" can be viewed on the Veterans Affairs Canada web site at http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca.
For more information, contact: Olive Crane, Provincial Coordinator, Community Access Program, Charlottetown, PEI, (902) 386-6435.
Community Access Program: Telephone 1-800-268-6608; Internet -- comaccess@ic.gc.ca; Website -- http://cap.unb.ca.