Canada calls for $10.6 billion to boost telecommunications infrastructure

In his annual report to the House of Commons, Canada’s minister of industry, Stephen Bronfman, says the government will make $10 billion available over the next three years to boost infrastructure investments across the country.

The money, which the Conservatives say is needed to address “the challenges of an aging population, a rapidly growing Internet population and rising health care costs,” will come from new taxes and a tax credit.

Bronfman says the money will be spent on upgrading the country’s aging infrastructure.

“We have to make sure we’re doing it in a sustainable way,” Bronfman told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.

He says the infrastructure spending will be announced later this year.

Bronffmans annual report also says Ottawa will spend $500 million over five years on “a new program to ensure that Canadians have access to a high-speed broadband service” and that it will spend another $500,000 to upgrade its telecommunications infrastructure.

The Liberals, meanwhile, say the Liberals will make a commitment to invest $1.8 billion in the next five years to expand the countrys fibre optic network.

“Our government is committed to ensuring that our telecommunications infrastructure is in the best shape it can be for Canadians and our economy,” a Liberal spokesperson said in a statement.

Sources: Globe AndMail, Canadian Press, House of Representatives, Bronfman