A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.

A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.

The fight involves internet connectivity in remote regions as Canada tries to live up to its promise to connect every Canadian household to high-speed internet by 2030.

A week ago, the Liberal government announced the loan to Telesat, which is launching a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that will be able to connect the most remote areas of the country to broadband internet.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett objected to the price tag, asking Musk in a social media post how much it would cost to provide his Starlink to every Canadian household that does not have high-speed access.

  • @Maggoty
    -1•1 month ago

    Geosync Satellite Internet works fine for learning, they still have school and libraries. Geosync has worked for decades, so the question isn’t should we screw them over. It’s should we upgrade, given the price?

    There’s plenty of other ways to bring services to these very remote areas and raise their standard of living. Just because one thing is held back does not mean nobody cares about them. It means we’re being responsible with our resources and environment.

    And it’s especially important to question these things whenever people start talking about, “for the kids!”

    • @SupraMario
      1•1 month ago

      Geosync Satellite Internet works fine for learning, they still have school and libraries. Geosync has worked for decades, so the question isn’t should we screw them over. It’s should we upgrade, given the price?

      No it does not, you cannot do any sort of voip learning with it.

      There’s plenty of other ways to bring services to these very remote areas and raise their standard of living. Just because one thing is held back does not mean nobody cares about them. It means we’re being responsible with our resources and environment.

      Yea they tried that and it failed…

      And it’s especially important to question these things whenever people start talking about, “for the kids!”

      I’m not even going there with you.

      • @Maggoty
        0•1 month ago

        I’m sorry. I didn’t realize learning online was restricted to VOIP. That’s usually solved by just making teachers available there.

        But I am going there with you because you started with remote workers and went to “but the kids!” When you realized you were wrong.

        • @SupraMario
          0•1 month ago

          The majority of interactions online that matter (e.g. jobs/schools/training/certs) require low latency. Stop fucking acting like they don’t.

          I pointed all of this out in one large lump, and you ran with “the kids”. Which is ironic coming from you, who pulls the “the kids” when it’s about gun legislation…

          • @Maggoty
            1•1 month ago

            The problem is I’ve done online classes and you’re just full of shit.

            • @SupraMario
              1•1 month ago

              Uhh…ok? Have you attempted to do them on geosync satellites with latency in the 2k range? Have you attempted a certification where someone monitors you? All of this does not work with high latency…the fuck are you a sales person for huesnet?