Town petition wants broadband declared an essential service

CALEDON, Ont. — The town of Caledon in Ontario (about 50 kms north of Toronto) has launched a petition asking the federal and provincial members of parliament for Dufferin-Caledon to work with their respective governments to have broadband declared an essential service. The petition is backed by the municipality and addressed to Conservative MP Kyle Seeback and Conservative MPP Sylvia Jones (who is also Ontario’s solicitor general). In addition to lobbying for broadband to be declared an essential service, the petition asks the governments to help facilitate telecommunication access to existing infrastructure, including underutilized or dark fibre-optic networks and hydro...