ON NOVEMBER 7, 1885 the last spike was driven in the Canadian transcontinental railway at Craigellachie, B.C. Canadians have come a long way since this fundamental step to overcome distance and diversity. This nation’s history is marked by the melding of cultures and the rise of strong communities across the land. In more recent times, barriers of distance and often inclement weather have been overcome by the development of modern transportation systems and one of the world's best telecommunications systems. This stellar progress will certainly continue in the 21st century.

We have moved into yet another phase of our history, often called the Information Society or the Knowledge-based Economy and Society. In today’s global economy, knowledge is as important as physical capital, financial capital, and natural resources as a source of economic growth. Information and communications technologies are the new engines of this growth, transforming the way we do business, expanding our learning environments and providing new opportunities for Canadians to participate in the social, cultural, and economic life of their country.

Helping make Canada more competitive in the knowledge-based economy is Industry Canada’s mission. Innovation, investment, productivity and exports are our main concerns but so too are the quality of skills, creativity, and learning capabilities of Canadians. Making progress in any of these areas requires effective partnerships with organizations from all sectors and communities, working together in their areas of expertise.
 

1.   Driving the last spike of the C.P.R., connecting Canadians east to west, Craigellachie, B.C., 1885. [Photo, courtesy NAC/C-011371] 2.  Connecting Canada’s last school, Pictou Island, Nova Scotia, March 30, 1999. Teacher Tracy Langille with students Caitlin and Laura Banks and Aaron MacDonald. [Photo, courtesy Canada’s SchoolNet]

March 30, 1999 – a milestone in Canadian history

Like the Canadian railway more than 100 years before, the last virtual spike for Canadian school and library connectivity was driven on March 30, 1999, when a tiny three-student Nova-Scotian school on Pictou Island, in the Northumberland Strait was connected to the Information Highway. The children living on this isolated island gained access to an entire nation and an entire world on that day. They now have the opportunity to experience first-hand the rich diversity of Canadian culture and language by working collaboratively with other children through the Internet. In the words of nine-year-old Laura Banks: “It will take us wherever we want.”

This final link in the SchoolNet partnership made Canada the first country in the world to connect its schools and libraries to the Internet and a world leader in developing and using an advanced information infrastructure to achieve social and economic aims. This achievement may help change the way Canadians learn, communicate, and do business in the future every bit as much as the railway and highway systems have in past decades.

Canada’s SchoolNet is a crucial part of the Government of Canada’s Connecting Canadians strategy to make Canada the most connected nation in the world by the year 2000. Connecting Canadians is designed to meet the challenges posed by the new economy and is a commitment to a dynamic economy, a life-long learning culture and the promotion of social cohesion, cultural expression, and new linkages between citizens and government.

The private sector has the main responsibility for building the Information Highway, but Industry Canada is helping to create the right environment to encourage this growth and ensure that all Canadian shave opportunities to share in the benefits.

Through our support to CANARIE, we are helping the private sector build the next generation Internet in Canada for faster and better service. Policy and regulatory reform also encourages private sector development  of both infrastructure and network applications.

A big part of Connecting Canadians means getting Canada On-line. Through the Community Access Program, 5,000 rural and remote communities and 5,000 urban areas will be connected to the Internet by March 2001. Building on Canada’s success in connecting its schools and libraries to the Information Highway, Canada’s SchoolNet will work with its provincial and private sector partners to extend connectivity from schools to the classroom by March 31, 2001, bringing the benefits of the Information Highway to Canadian learners. To ensure schools and public libraries have the equipment and software they need, the Computers for Schools program promotes the donation of surplus but still valuable computers from governments, businesses and individuals.

VolNet, a joint private and public sector initiative, will link 10,000 voluntary and charitable organizations to the Internet and to each other by March 2001. Young Canadians are gaining entrepreneurial and technology-based job experience through programs such as Digital Collections and Aboriginal Digital Collections which have created a web site with more than 250 multimedia collections of significant Canadian contemporary and historical content. Young college and university graduates find work through on-line job matching with employers in the National Graduate Register and Campus Worklink.

Smart Communities will encourage communities to become leading-edge users of information technologies so that all sectors and community members work towards developing their communities. The goal is a Smart Community in each province, in the North, and in an Aboriginal community by March 2001.

Electronic Commerce will create a legal and regulatory framework to make Canada a location of choice for developing electronic commerce products and services, enabling us to capitalize on the phenomenal growth of on-line business.

Through Strategis, Industry Canada provides Canadians with direct access to valuable business and consumer information resources, time saving interactive tools, and a growing number of on-line and electronic commerce services.

You can learn more about Connecting Canadians by visiting http://www.connect.gc.ca.