“It’s really important for our youth to have high-speed internet”: Thiessen

The District of Vanderhoof is looking to connect the outlying parts of the community to faster internet.

On Saturday, Northern Development Initiative Trust announced its accepting applications for the Connecting BC Program.

The faster connection speeds can make a world of difference in the business community.

“High-speed connectivity is really important, we see how many meetings are being held now electronically and if you’re always timing out or getting cut off it just doesn’t work for people,” said Gerry Thiessen, Mayor of Vanderhoof.

Local businesses and homes can apply for a piece of the 16-million dollar pie for any transport infrastructure or last mile projects.

“Our hope is that our local businesses will see this as an opportunity to do that last-mile connection to get high-speed into their home location, we have good internet access right in the centre of Vanderhoof but it’s really needed just outside.”

“It’s very much similar to what we saw with transportation in the 50s’ and 60s’ in Northern British Columbia. If you can’t get the road to you, you won’t be able to sell your goods.”

The resource would also come in handy for students who are taking online courses or are working on any computer-related projects where having a reliable internet connection is vital.

“For our youth, for them to have the same opportunities as those in larger cities, it’s really important that they have access to high-speed internet.”

“People that are taking courses online it really limits their ability whenever you have to improve access to education to improve yourself and you have to come to town to get to get it, it really limits the opportunities in your life.”

An additional $83 million dollars in funding from federal, provincial and local partners have been announced since January, which will benefit 187 communities – including 69 that are Indigenous.