THUNDER BAY -- It's easy to take the Internet for granted.
High-speed information at everyone's fingertips has been a reality for most people for long enough that it's hard to remember the early days of dial-up or no online presence at all. But for people living in remote Matawa communities it's still a reality.
"They're on satellite and microwave and it's really slow, kind of if you hearken back to the days of dial-up when it first started out," Matawa Four Rivers geomatics technician Charlene Wagenaar.
And while that means they miss out on entertainment, more importantly they miss out on educational, economic, political and health opportunities. Classrooms don't have the iPads and smart boards that classes in the south have. Doctor appointments can require long and lengthy travel, easily replaced often by a Skype chat if high-speeds were there.
"That's not something they can do in remote communities. They have to come down here and you're looking at almost $1,000 for a plane ticket," Wagenaar said.
Even artists, which Wagenaar said the Far North has plenty, could benefit from e-commerce if high-speed was there.
"They have a lot of great work that could be sold but they can’t really sell it on the Internet because it's so cumbersome to use," she said.
All these reasons have led Matawa to come up with a plan to lay down 500 kilometres of fibre optic cables to get its communities into the digital age. It's holding public consultation with members in Thunder Bay this week in order to share some information and determine a route.
Wagenaar said along with time, a major challenge is the lack of information from topography to cultural sites in the Far North means community consultation is a must.
"There's a huge amount of work involved with that," she said.
