News/Nouvelles : Rural Canada News Scan - December, 2010

Source: Compiled by the Canadian Rural Research Network.
Online news on rural Canada for December, 2010. Click on the heading to access the online article.


Internet regulation outside CRTC jurisdiction: expert
The Globe and Mail – December 6, 2010
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has no legal authority to force Internet service providers to expand high-speed broadband to rural areas, says a business professor.

More Physicians in Canada But Still Not Sufficient in Rural Areas
TopNews.us – December 3, 2010
A national research released on Thursday revealed that though Canada have more doctors now than it ever had, still the numbers are not enough to cater to the total population of Canada.

Province Invests $750,000 in a Rural Nova Scotia Business
CanadaViews.ca – December 3, 2010
A provincial investment in a family-owned lumber company will make life better for the people in Queens County by maintaining dozens of good jobs and helping to keep the business competitive.

Avian flu strikes farm
The Selkirk Journal – December, 2010
Thousands of turkeys have been destroyed at a Rockwood-area turkey operation following a diagnosis of a low-pathogenic strain of avian influenza in mid-November.

Over 100 community groups in rural Canada to benefit from funding
Marketwire – December 13, 2010
Over 100 groups in rural Canada want to make life even better in their communities, and now they have the funding to help make it happen. Farm Credit Canada (FCC) is giving a total of $1 million to 104 rural community groups across Canada for capital projects, as part of the FCC AgriSpirit Fund.

Ottawa firm helps bring hi-speed Internet to rural areas
CTV.ca – December 14, 2010
A multi-million dollar contract for Ottawa's Dragonwave will help serve Canada's rural areas with hi-speed Internet.

Manitoba to pick up medical school tab in return for rural service
National Post/Winnipeg Free Press – December 10, 2010
Pushing ahead with a plan to get every person in Manitoba a family doctor within the next five years, the province announced Thursday it will pay the full cost of medical school for students who agree to work in rural and northern areas.

Study finds rural-urban divide in college, university drop-out rates
Ottawa Citizen - December 14, 2010
Students from rural communities and smaller urban centres are significantly more likely to drop out of college or university than students from larger cities, according to new research from the University of Ottawa.

High-speed Broadband Should be a Right
John Jung – December 10, 2010
This year Finland set the new gold standard for the rights of its citizens. Finland's new Universal Service Obligation (USO) requires every operator in Finland to offer broadband connections of at least 1Mbps for anybody who requests it.

Barrett Xplore secures funding for advanced broadband network in rural Canada
Winnipeg Free Press – December 21, 2010
Internet services provider Barrett Xplore Inc. said Tuesday it has secured $55 million in private funding to build an advanced broadband network in rural Canada.

Rural N.B. projects get FCC funding
Times and Transcript - December 15, 2010
A development centre for a Richibucto daycare and improvements to the park in St. Isidore are among the eight projects in Atlantic Canada to receive funding from the Farm Credit Canada's AgriSpirit Fund, which each year helps fund rural projects across Canada.

Rural internet expansion lures private investors
CBC.ca – December 22, 2010
Internet services provider Barrett Xplore Inc. said Tuesday it has secured $55 million in private funding to build an advanced broadband network in rural Canada.

Rural Canada will have upper hand in the years ahead
The Vancouver Sun – December 13, 2010
For decades, many Canadians have preferred to dismiss our resource wealth and our iconic image as a vast wilderness full of hewers of wood, and instead to recast ourselves as a modern, urban nation fuelled by a high-tech and service economy.