AMBM President Ivan Normandeau issued the following statement following the news release issued by the Province of Manitoba announcing its partnership with Xplornet to improve connectivity for hundreds of rural, remote and Indigenous communities in Manitoba:

AMBM welcomes this announcement. The agreement between Xplornet and the Province provides practical and innovative solutions to the digital divide, particularly in rural areas. This bilateral partnership optimizes and enhances the use of existing digital infrastructure and capacity (Manitoba Hydro’s fibre optic network and tower infrastructure), resulting in substantial savings without compromising quality standards. The agreement therefore promotes efficiency and efficacy for the benefit of communities.

In terms of broadband Internet connectivity, the list of communities covered by this announcement includes 12 of the 14 rural bilingual municipalities that are members of the AMBM (approximately 86%):

  • Rural Municipality of Ritchot (Île-des-Chênes)
  • Rural Municipality of La Broquerie (La Broquerie)
  • Rural Municipality of Taché (Landmark)
  • Town of Powerview-Pine Falls (Pine Falls)
  • Rural Municipality of Montcalm (Saint-Jean-Baptiste)
  • Rural Municipality of De Salaberry (Saint-Malo)
  • Town of Ste. Anne
  • Rural Municipality of Alexander (Saint-Georges)
  • Rural Municipality of Saint-Laurent (Saint-Laurent)
  • Local Urban District of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
  • Local Urban District of Somerset
  • Rural Municipality of Ellice-Archie (Saint-Lazare)

With respect to cellular telephony, 10 of the 14 rural bilingual municipalities that are members of the AMBM (approximately 71%) will benefit directly from this same agreement:

  • Rural Municipality of Montcalm (Letellier, Saint-Joseph, Saint-Jean-Baptiste)
  • Rural Municipality of Taché (Landmark, Lorette, Sainte-Geneviève)
  • Rural Municipality of De Salaberry (Otterburne)
  • Town of Powerview-Pine Falls (Powerview, Pine Falls)
  • Rural Municipality of Alexander (Saint-Georges)
  • Town of Ste. Anne
  • Rural Municipality of St. Laurent (St. Laurent)
  • Local Urban District of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
  • Local Urban District of Saint-Léon
  • Rural Municipality of Ellice-Archie (McAuley)

This announcement is timely as it aligns with the vision of our new economic recovery strategy for Manitoba’s bilingual municipalities with respect to digital infrastructure. In particular, our strategy highlights the priorities of the Local Urban Districts of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Saint-Léon and Somerset, as well as the Rural Municipality of Saint-Laurent.

We will continue to advocate with decision-makers to ensure that the missing bilingual communities, including the Village of Saint-Lazare (Rural Municipality of Ellice-Archie), which has long advocated for the installation of a cell phone tower, are connected (Internet and cellular).

The newly announced agreement also appears to fulfill the Manitoba government’s intention to roll out a broader provincial connectivity strategy, as outlined in the mandate letter given to Central Services’ Minister Reg Helwer when he took office in March 2020. I encourage the Province to explicitly confirm its intention to create such a strategy and to specify its timeline and investment. I would like to take this opportunity to offer the support of the AMBM and its members in order to demonstrate our needs on the ground and maximize the impact on our Francophone and bilingual communities who have been negatively impacted by the digital divide for many years.

Increasing access to broadband Internet and cell phone services for rural Francophone and bilingual communities in Manitoba is one of the priority issues for our association. Currently, most of these communities have very limited access to these infrastructures and are more isolated than ever since the pandemic. This reality is all the more cruel for Manitoba’s Francophone minority community; the lack of access to information and resources in their language accelerates the pace of their linguistic assimilation and the decline of French in Manitoba.

In a post-pandemic economic recovery, we must maximize the opportunities for our rural Francophone and bilingual communities to develop and prosper. To achieve this, access to reliable and affordable broadband Internet and cellular phone services is essential. This is why the AMBM is committed to supporting the establishment of winning regional partnerships, within issues such as this one, where we can demonstrate the added value of an effective and constructive collaboration between the various service providers and our communities.

Information: Justin Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, 204-289-4077, [email protected].

Agreement Between Province and Xplornet: A Step Forward in Connectivity for our Rural Bilingual Municipalities