CANADA-SASKATCHEWAN AGREEMENT EXPANDS INTERNET COMMUNITY ACCESS PROGRAM

Released on January 19, 1998

A new three-year agreement will help establish up to 250 additional

community Internet access sites in rural schools and libraries across

the province. Federal Minister of Natural Resources Ralph Goodale, on

behalf of John Manley, Minister of Industry and Saskatchewan's

Education Minister Pat Atkinson today announced the signing of a

Memorandum of Understanding under Industry Canada's Community Access

Program (CAP).



"This announcement is great news for Saskatchewan," Goodale said.

"This kind of federal-provincial collaboration will help make Canada

the most connected nation in the world. Thanks to this agreement,

those in rural Saskatchewan will be able to take part in a

knowledge-based economy."



"This agreement assists the vision of a Multimedia Learning Network

described in our province's Multimedia Learning Strategy," Atkinson

said. "Learning is a lifelong activity and it is greatly enhanced by

connecting learners to each other and to the vast learning resources

available electronically."



Through the Community Access Program (CAP), the federal government

promotes the economic and social development of rural and remote

communities by helping them obtain affordable public access to the

Internet. The program's national goal is to link up to 5,000

rural and remote communities to the Internet by the turn of the

century. In the 1997 Budget the federal government added $30

million to CAP. On January 6, 1998, Industry Minister Manley

announced that the 1997 Community Access program competition

would help establish more than 1,000 new CAP centres, in more

than 830 rural and remote communities across the country.

Saskatchewan expects to have more than 300 communities linked

through the program.



Under this agreement, Saskatchewan and Industry Canada will also

work together to provide important employment opportunities for

Saskatchewan youth to work at community access sites through

school divisions and other community agencies.



CAP is a key component of the Canadian Strategy for the

Information Highway, which helps Canada create jobs, growth and

other benefits associated with the development of information

technology. In addition, the Community Access Program is

integral to the national Youth Employment Strategy, as CAP sites

help develop job opportunities for young people.



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For more information contact:



Betty Millar

Manager, Canada-Saskatchewan Community Access Program

Main Floor, 122 3rd Avenue North

c/o Canada-Saskatchewan Business Centre

Saskatoon, SK S7K 2H6

Phone: (306)933-7028



Community Access Program

1-800-268-6608

comaccess@ic.gc.ca

Web Site: http://cap.unb.ca