MISA/ASIM Canada Makes Telecommunications Policy Recommendations

A new national association of municipal IT organizations, MISA/ASIM Canada, has made its first contribution to public-policy discussions by submitting recommendations on telecommunications policy to a federal government panel.

MISA/ASIM Canada’s submission was delivered August 15 to the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel, which was established by Industry Minister David Emerson in April 2005.  The panel is conducting a review of Canada’s telecommunications policy and regulatory framework, and will make recommendations by the end of 2005 aimed at making it a model of 21st-century regulation. 

The submission encourages the federal government to construct a regulatory framework that recognizes the ability of municipalities to control their own telecommunications infrastructure, and empowers them to do so if they wish.

• “Local governments now have the means to control high-speed data and shape the future of their communities,” the submission says.  “This has significant impact on the local economy.  No longer does a local community’s economic development need to be in the hands of telecommunications carriers who invest only when they can get sufficient return on investment.”
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• The submission was written by Frank Mayhood, information technology manager with the City of Kamloops, BC, with assistance from Maurice Gallant, manager of the Information & Communications Technology Division of the City of Fredericton, NB, and president of Fredericton’s telecommunications company, e-Novations ComNet Inc.
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• It was approved by the 10-member Interim Executive of MISA/ASIM Canada, meeting by teleconference under the leadership of its chair, Kevin Peacock, branch manager of corporate information services with the City of Saskatoon.

MISA/ASIM Canada (Municipal Information Systems Association/Association des systèmes d'information municipale Canada) is an emerging association with five member municipal IT organizations.

Representatives of those organizations have signed a memorandum of agreement to promote a national association that will serve as their common voice.  They intend to officially launch MISA/ASIM Canada in June 2006 in Ottawa.

The five organizations are:

• Municipal Information Systems Association, British Columbia (MISA BC), including the three Territories
• Municipal Information Systems Association, Prairies (MISA Prairie)
• Municipal Information Systems Association, Ontario (MISA Ontario)
• Réseau de l’Informatique Municipale du Québec (RIMQ)
• Municipal Information Systems Association, Atlantic Canada (MISA Atlantic)

Among its comments on telecommunications policy, MISA/ASIM Canada says that efforts to bridge Canada’s broadband divide should focus on encouraging and developing local initiatives.  It cites as examples the existing successful community networks in Fredericton, Kamloops, Penticton, BC, and the Region of Peel, Ontario.

“Recognizing that Canada’s electronic communications infrastructure has become an ubiquitous public asset that must be protected from harm and maintained as an efficient and secure resource, Canada should adopt similar policies, grants, and other incentives for municipal or provincial governments to establish publicly owned broadband utilities capable of serving the needs of our citizens rather than those of corporate shareholders,” the submission says.