IRON BRIDGE – The Huron Shore and Manitoulin Island Community Owned Fibre Infrastructure (H&M COFI) broadband project has been selected for stage one in the process of attaining funding for improved broadband or the area.
“We had gone into partnership with Rock Networks, submitting a stage one grant request to the Improving Connectivity for Ontario (ICON) program with Rock Networks having done the technical stuff. We have been selected for the next stage as a viable project,” stated Georges Bilodeau, mayor of the Municipality of Huron Shores, in an interview with the Recorder Sunday.
In a letter to First Nation chiefs, municipal mayors and councils dated October 2, 2020, it is noted, “I am pleased to report on the progress of the H&M COFI broadband project. In August, we submitted a stage one grant request to the ICON program, and on September 25, our project was selected for the next stage.” It was pointed out the stage two submission is a more detailed report of the H&M COFI project, which will seek up to 25 percent or $37.5 million of the project’s expected cost and is due November 28. If selected in stage two, the funds would allow us to commence in April 2021. So by the end of November we will submit an application for stage two,” Mr. Bilodeau told the Recorder.
In the letter it is further explained, “last week our H&M COFI partners, Rock Networks Inc., and I presented to FedNor a request for funds required to complete the stage two submission. It was well-received, and due to the ICON program’s late November deadline, we anticipate a response shortly. The documents will provide a governance and business operating structure and high-level engineering design for H&M COFI. In addition to the ICON submission, the documents enable requests to federal programs that fund rural broadband projects. As federal funding can support up to 50 percent of the cost of H&M COFI, these documents are essential for our progress forward.”
“We are still waiting for word from FedNor on funding,” said Mr. Mayor Bilodeau. “We made a presentation to FedNor last Friday for funding of $500,000 for the governance model and high definition engineering study.”
Mayor Bilodeau said, “on the Ontario government NOHFC (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation) submission, our project didn’t fit into their program, but they are coming out with a whole new criteria for funding. If we end up getting funding from the province we would be in a good position for the end of March-April for funding of stage two. Then we would look to CRTC for funding of possibly 25 percent. If we receive the 25 percent funding from the province, we are almost certainly assured that funding would be provided from the federal government.”
At the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual conference (held earlier this year), I met with Minister Laurie Scott, and our project was received quite well. She followed up with her assistant the next day,” said Mayor Bilodeau.
“MP Carol Hughes also made a presentation to the FedNor committee and has sent a letter to all ministers who would be involved in broadband and funding of projects,” Mayor Bilodeau told the Recorder.
“We have now entered a point of the project that will require a timely response from First Nations and municipalities to address questions of an administrative nature that might be necessary for provincial and federal grant submissions,” said Mayor Bilodeau.
“We are moving ahead, chugging along,” Mayor Bilodeau told the Recorder. He said updates are being provided to all municipalities and First Nations along the North Shore and Manitoulin area, noting that while the support has been good in the form of resolutions from individual councils, three municipalities and First Nations on Highway 17 and a few Manitoulin municipalities and First Nations have not passed a resolution supporting the proposal as of yet.
However, “recently, Whitefish River First Nation partnered up on the ICON application, Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation are in line too, as is the as is the Serpent River First Nation. And, Tim Vine and the Manitoulin Health Centre have also sent us a letter of support for the proposal,” added Mayor Bilodeau.
