In the News
Toronto Star: Internet should be affordable for everyone: Editorial
Imagine trying to find a job, use a government service, sign up for a course or stay in touch with friends and family without ready access to the Internet.
It would be close to impossible. Society has gone online, and anyone without reliable, fast Internet service risks being left in the dust.
For too many low-income people, that’s exactly what’s happening. Either they do without, and find they can’t fully participate in public life. Or, as the advocacy group ACORN described this past week, they pony up for Internet while making a cruel trade-off with other basics like food and rent.
This is part of the infamous “digital divide” that separates those who are fully part of the online world and those who have fallen behind. In Canada in 2012, 98 per cent of the wealthiest households had fast Internet connections at home, compared with only 58 per cent of those with incomes of less than $30,000. Children are potentially among the biggest losers, unable to keep up at school.
News 95.7: Nova Scotia ACORN Takes Action for Internet for All
Nova Scotia ACORN member Darryl King talks to Sheldon MacLeod about ACORN's National Day of Action on the Internet for All campaign.
Ming Pao News: 倡Wi-Fi月費降至10元以惠及低收入家庭
有團體昨發表報告，指高昂的互聯網費用，對低收入家庭是沉重負擔；有家庭為了支付上網費，減少食物和租金等必須開支。組織要求當局強制互聯網供應商，將低收入家庭的高速互聯網費用降至每月10元。
中低收入家庭權益團體「現在改革社區組織協會」(Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, Canada, 簡稱 ACORN Canada) 在去年6月1日至7月15日期間，透過網上和手寫問卷，訪問了全國394名中低收入人士，發現83.5%受訪者形容在家安裝互聯網的費用為「極高」；當中接近8%因而選擇不安裝或取消互聯網服務。另外58.9%表示因為他們需要互聯網，因此要在其他地方削減開支，包括食物(71%)、休閒活動(64%)和租金(13%)。
Metro News Vancouver: Low-income Canadians struggle to afford Internet, bridge digital divide
Low-income families have to cut back on food and rent budgets to afford the Internet, according to a new report.
ACORN Canada, an advocacy group for low- and moderate-income residents, polled almost 400 of its members and found that more than half (58.9 per cent) of respondents said they can’t really afford high-speed Internet but cut from their food, recreation or rent budgets because they need access to the world wide web or risk being left behind in an increasingly digital age.
Metro News Toronto: Canadian anti-poverty advocates call for affordable Internet
Low-income Canadians are taking money out of their budgets for food, recreation and rent to pay for Internet service, according to a new report that is calling for a national affordable home Internet program.
“The Internet plays an important role in the everyday lives of low-income earners,” says the study by ACORN Canada, a national organization of low- and moderate-income families with 70,000 members in nine cities across the country.