Is affordable internet a 'human right'?

[@KeatrithAmakiir]

As an educator I think internet should be a right, whether it is free or not is open to debate but it should be treated like a public utility so all have equal and affordable access.

[@cosmoray9750]

Try walking to the local library...they provide free internet access to people...which is funded by the tax payers. There is your free internet.

[@anon1595]

What if she needs to use the internet for something personal like banking or dealing with sensitive/proprietary data? Claiming we already have access to free internet because of library access is like claiming we all have free housing because homeless shelters exist. Both are woefully inadequate replacements for the real thing. In addition, many libraries block certain site so not only are you getting an incredibly slow and non-private internet, you're getting a censored one as well!

[@Silvercube88]

Anyone who can't afford internet should look into getting a smartphone with a wifi hotspot tethering option built in. I use WIND and get 10GB of data, and I often use my smartphone as a wifi internet hotspot for my laptop via the easy tethering options available on most of today's smartphones. 10GB of data can last more than a whole month if you don't stream too much videos and music. For $50 a month, it's been wonderful. If you finish the 10GB of data, the speed goes much slower, though you have the option of buying an additional 3GB of data for $5 for the month if you like.

[@Luvie1980]

I still hold food, water, a roof over my head and clothes above internet. And she can go to a cafe or mcdonalds or any place that has free wifi for internet.

[@CCypher1]

This would have been a better piece of CBC had bothered to investigate the absurd profit margins of our current national oligopoly in telecommunications.

[@gregghill2059]

The Internet should be a right and has become an economic necessity but only to the extent of providing text and pictures. Broadband however is a luxury. Telecom companies should provide slow speed Internet for free, but otherwise there should be no subsidies.

[@jerbear1601]

You can't even apply for a job without internet services today. So much business is conducted on the web today that it can and should be paying for itself and be a federal service. maybe if all things were charged as a percentage of your earnings the problem could be minimized. I think the Rogers plan is a step in the right direction but would hesitate to say these people will be fully serviced like the spokesman indicated.

[@Zohirul-Jewel]

Internet providers are business designed to make a profit, I don't think they'll provide "affordable internet" unless they get some government subsidy or tax brakes or something that will make it worth while to do so.

[@Tetrahedragon2]

+Zohirul Islam Jewel All depends on how you legislate it. Could always just go to government control like water.

[@BobTheBob647]

Shouldn't access to a telephone be a right also? I have a friend (Native), 25, lives with his parents. He's never had Internet access in his house. He has a computer with a printer but without Internet, it's basically there for looks. Couple of years ago, he got a smartphone so he does have Internet access now, but he doesn't have WiFi. So, there are Canadians out here that do not have access to the Internet for one reason or another. I actually don't have a problem with the State ensuring that everyone has access to the Internet. But making Internet a human right seems out of place for me. Just describe it as what it is. A means to help people who otherwise would not have Internet. The cost of high speed Internet can easily be an entire's day salary for some people. And you have to pay that monthly.

[@alphaomega8373]

Internet is not a necessity.

[@macplumber]

It is pretty sad situation that we're find ourselves in here in Canada. In poor little Portugal I can get 3 cellphones, high-speed unlimited Internet, a basic cable package, and a landline for the same cost as I can get a cellphone here in Canada. I've thought about this utterly ridiculous difference in price for some time, and during a conversation with a friend in Portugal, It was explained to me that reason for the difference in service and price is the fact that the Portuguese people still have a collective memory of exactly what Fascism is. It is a political and economic capitalist system that walks in lockstep with large corporations, and won't be tolerated since the revolution in 1974.

[@JamesSmith-sw3nk]

Not if Rogers or Bell has anything has to say about it.

[@pikminlord343]

good points

[@cosmoray9750]

it's not a human right. isn't a phone human right? sometimes I don't feel like to take the public buses and want a car.. isn't that my human right. People use that excuse to get things for free. what a bunch of cry babies.

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

+Cosmo Ray In your analogy, the internet isn't the car or the bus, it's the _road._

[@BombasticLove87]

Maybe if booze and cigarettes weren't so expensive, people would have money left over to buy internet.

[@cherylreitz4779]

+BombasticLove87 LOL