Canadians go to the polls today and unless something extraordinary happens, the Conservatives will likely not emerge with the majority they sought when Stephen Harper visited Rideau Hall 6 weeks ago. A lot of questions come to mind.
We’ll be watching results tonight to see the list of MPs that will be sent to Ottawa, from which key cabinet positions (and opposition critics) will be drawn.
Will the government gain sufficient support to enact the changes called for in the report from the Telecom Policy Review Panel, which has largely been languishing for 30 months?
How will the government deal with the last minute promise to provide $500M in rural broadband subsidies – based on $100M per year for 5 years beginning in 2010? This kind of recurring amount, said to be tied to private sector and other levels of government participating, could be effeciently delivered through a direct subsidy or tax credit to users, as we have suggested on this blog.
What will be the impact of the global economic turmoil on how Canada’s new government approaches telecom policy?