A massive outage for some major apps and internet services this morning.
Amazon’s Web Services went down in the early hours of Oct. 20, taking out apps like Snapchat and Disney Plus and video games like Fortnite and Roblox.
The platform hosts servers and offers cloud storage and databases.
As of about 7:45 a.m. AST, Amazon said all services were back online.
More First Nations libraries in Ontario will soon be able to provide free internet access to the public.
The Ontario government announced it is making a $78,000 increase to the Internet Connectivity Grant program, which helps reimburse rural, northern and First Nations Public Libraries for their connectivity costs.
The province says that additional amount of funds will allow 30 public libraries in Ontario the ability to join the program.
“Accessible and reliable internet elevates education, economic opportunities, and community connection,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation in a news release.
“In expanding the Internet Connectivity Grant, we are ensuring that all First Nation public libraries can continue providing this critical service at no cost to their communities.”
Since 2018, the Internet Connectivity Grant program has provided the province’s public libraries with more than $4.3 million to ensure communities have reliable internet access.
According to a recent report, nearly one in three northern Ontarians without home internet rely on public libraries for online access to remote education, job searches and other services.
A network system failure following a maintenance update is believed to have caused Friday’s widespread Rogers outage.
Tony Staffieri, president and CEO of Rogers, outlined the details in a letter sent to customers over the weekend.
Staffieri said the network system failure in its core network caused some of its routers to malfunction early Friday morning.
“We disconnected the specific equipment and redirected traffic, which allowed our network and services to come back online over time as we managed traffic volumes returning to normal levels,” Staffieri said in the letter.
Services were restored to a “vast majority” of customers by Friday evening, and Rogers said its networks and systems are “close to fully operational.”
The day-long outage affected internet, TV, home phone and wireless services across the country starting early Friday morning.
Interac services were also impacted by the outage, leaving Canadians unable to send or receive e-transfers, or use their debit cards.
“We’re particularly troubled that some customers could not reach emergency services and we are addressing the issue as an urgent priority,” said Staffieri.
While 911 services themselves were not directly impacted by the outage, some Rogers customers were unable to connect when dialing 911.
Staffieri said their team of leading technical experts and global vendors continue to investigate the root cause of the outage and “identify steps to increase redundancy in our networks and systems.”
“We will take every step necessary, and continue to make significant investments in our networks to strengthen our technology systems, increase network stability for our customers, and enhance our testing,” he said.
Rogers said it will proactively credit all affected customers, adding that more information will be shared soon.
Rogers says it has restored services for the “vast majority” of customers affected by a widespread network outage on Friday.
In a tweet posted by the telecom giant around 7 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, it said technical teams were working hard to get the remaining customers back online as quickly as possible.
“As our services come back online and traffic volumes return to normal, some customers may experience a delay in regaining full service,” reads the tweet.
It is still unknown what caused the outage or how long it will take to restore services to everyone, but Rogers said it will proactively credit all affected customers, adding that more information will be shared soon.
The day-long outage affected internet, TV, home phone and wireless services since early Friday morning, with Downdetector reporting a massive spike in reported issues shortly after 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. It also affected wireless providers Fido, chatr and cityfone, which use the Rogers’ network.
Rogers first acknowledged the problems in a tweet shortly before 9 a.m. Eastern Time.
“We are aware of issues currently affecting our networks and our teams are fully engaged to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share,” said the tweet.
In a statement issued late Friday evening, Rogers president and CEO Tony Staffieri said he takes full responsibility for ensuring the company earns back the trust of consumers.
“We know going a full day without connectivity has real impacts on our customers and all Canadians,” wrote Staffieri. “On behalf of all of us here at Rogers, Rogers for Business, Fido, chatr and cityfone, I want to sincerely apologize for this service interruption and the impact it is having on people from coast to coast to coast.”
Staffieri said they are committed to fully understanding the root cause of the outage and will make “all the changes necessary to ensure that in the future we meet and exceed your expectations for our networks.”
The nationwide Rogers outage also impacted Tbaytel’s Mobility network.
“We apologize and recognize that the Mobility outage was frustrating and disruptive to your day. Unfortunately, this outage inconvenienced you and customers across the country,” stated Tbaytel on its Facebook page Saturday morning. “A proactive credit for the time of the outage will be issued to our Tbaytel Mobility postpaid customers. Your invoice will be automatically credited next month. You do not need to contact us.”
Interac services were also impacted by the Rogers outage.
Some people reported that they could send or receive e-transfers, while others were not able to take money out of their banks, and many businesses were only able to accept cash.
In a tweet around 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, Interac confirmed its services had been restored.
“As Rogers has restored connectivity after their system wide outage, INTERAC services are now fully available,” read the tweet.
We have made progress towards bringing our networks back online & many of our wireless customers are seeing services return. I take full responsibility for ensuring we at Rogers earn back your trust & are there to connect you to what matters. Read more: https://t.co/W4Nj20Bauk
— Rogers News (@AboutRogers) July 9, 2022
As Rogers has restored connectivity after their system wide outage, INTERAC services are now fully available. If you have any questions about a specific INTERAC e-Transfer or INTERAC Debit transaction, please contact your financial institution directly.
— INTERAC (@INTERAC) July 9, 2022
Kenora MP Eric Melillo is continuing his push for reliable broadband and internet service in rural and remote parts of northern Ontario.
The Conservative member says right now many of his constituents don’t have access to online services.
Melillo says the ability to conduct business online or do appointments over video chat would be a game-changer.
He stresses many people in this region are at risk of being left behind.
Melillo says he’s reached out to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry urging him to act with haste to ensure all Canadians have reliable internet service.
Melillo made the remarks in his weekly media briefing.
Dear Constituents,
I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy as our region enters Phase 3 of Ontario’s re-opening. Rest assured, I am continuing to fight for constituents impacted by this pandemic.
Fighting for rural internet
The lack of reliable broadband in rural and remote areas has become a crisis in the era of COVID-19.
The ability to conduct business online or do appointments over video chat would be a game-changer for many rural Canadians – especially those who live in remote areas which currently require service providers to fly in from afar. But right now, many of my constituents don’t have that option.
With education, healthcare, and mental health, financial and legal services moving increasingly online, rural and remote Canadians are at risk of being left behind.
Last week, I wrote to Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep Bains urging him to act with haste to ensure reliable internet service for all Canadians.
The Conservative Rural Internet Caucus recently released a policy document outlining both long- and short-term solutions to provide internet service to rural and remote communities. I am urging the government to act with haste to implement these measures, and to empower local internet service providers to provide innovative solutions.
Prime Minister Trudeau under investigation again
The Conservative Opposition was rightly critical when the Liberal government awarded WE Charity, an organization to which Prime Minister Trudeau and his family have close ties, a sole-sourced contract to run a $900 million program.
It’s since come out that WE has paid the Prime Minister’s immediate family hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees.
Prime Minister Trudeau is now being investigated by Canada’s Ethics Commissioner. (This is unfortunately a familiar situation for Justin Trudeau – he’s been found guilty of violating ethics laws twice before).
The Prime Minister has apologized for failing to recuse himself from Cabinet discussions about giving this contract to WE – but in this case, sorry shouldn’t cut in. As Prime Minister, he absolutely should have known better.
Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau is also under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner. He also neglected to recuse himself from discussions about WE Charity – even though his daughter works for them.
This is not how an honest, ethical government behaves.
An unfortunate side-effect of this scandal is that this irresponsible behavior from the Liberal government throws yet another wrench in the roll-out of the Canada Student Service Grant, which has already suffered delays. Canada’s youth deserve better. Canadians deserve better.
Fiscal Snapshot
The Liberal government recently released their “fiscal snapshot,” and it paints a disturbing picture.
Canada has racked up over $1 trillion in debt. We have the highest unemployment in the G7, and we’ve lost our AAA credit rating. This year’s deficit alone is well over $343 billion.
The Conservative Party is in favour of measures to get support to people who need it. That’s why we supported the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), and why we’ve urged the government to make changes to the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) eligibility criteria to allow more Canadians to benefit.
But we would have been better able to financially support those in need if the Liberals had exercised some fiscal restraint before this pandemic. If the Liberals hadn’t spent so recklessly earlier in their mandate, Canada would have been in a stronger financial position to weather this crisis. And if they hadn’t raised taxes on individuals and businesses, more Canadians would have been able to save for hard times.
But what bothers me the most is that the Liberals don’t have a plan to get our economy moving.
The Conservatives have been proposing constructive solutions that would help Canadians get back to work and allow businesses to keep their doors open. Our proposed Back to Work Bonus, for instance, is a CERB top-up that would allow Canadians to return to work gradually without losing their full benefit – a win-win for workers and business owners.
I know that Canada is in an unprecedented situation. But the government has had months to adjust to this new reality and to begin the plan for the future. We should be talking about recovery – instead, it seems the Liberal government’s long-term goal is to keep Canada on life support.
The Conservative Party will continue to propose practical policies to get our economy moving while protecting the health and safety and Canadians. I’m also personally fighting for targeted support for Northern Ontario.
In the Community
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting my Conservative colleagues MP Garnett Genuis and MP Arnold Viersen during their visit to Northwestern Ontario. After an insightful roundtable discussion about issues impacting marginalized groups in Thunder Bay, we headed to Kenora for a productive meeting with Chief Lorraine Cobiness of Niisaachewan, Chief Chris Skead of Wauzhushk Onigum, and Marie Seymour and Shirley Kelly from Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong.
Later in the week, I was happy to join Kenora Mayor Dan Reynard and Council to celebrate the city’s re-opening, and to chat with residents at a BBQ hosted by Ignace Mayor Penny Lucas. I also enjoyed a productive meeting with Council members in Pickle Lake, where I also had the opportunity to do a ride-along with members of the local OPP.
At Your Service
As always, if there is anything my office can assist you with, or a cause you would like me to take up in Ottawa, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at 807-468-2170 or by email at eric.melillo@parl.gc.ca.
Sincerely,
Eric Melillo
Member of Parliament – Kenora riding
Premier Doug Ford is challenging the federal government to get on board with his plan to expand broadband services across Ontario.
Ford says people in rural communities deserve the same level of service that the rest of Ontario enjoys and relies on every day.
“Investments now will lay a strong foundation for our future. It will lay a strong foundation for our economic recovery, for better quality of life for everyone and for the long term prosperity of our province.”
The province recently made a $150-million investment to improve Internet and cellular service this past week but the government says it can’t do this alone.
Minister of Infrastructure Laurie Scott says “Today we are calling on the federal government to step up and help us expand connectivity to everyone across Ontario. We all deserve the opportunity to join the economy of the 21st century.”
There is growing frustration among rural and northern residents that their Internet service is too slow or non-existent.
Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott says they continue to work with their federal counterparts to make things better.
“Countless calls with the federal minister responsible. Urging her government to join Ontario and our municipal and private sector partners in closing the ‘digital divide’ the COVID-19 epidemic has brought to the forefront.”
Independent MPP Jim Wilson says with more people working from home and students learning on-line, reliable Internet service isn’t a luxury anymore.
Scott says “I do have more plans coming out shortly and I want to encourage the member opposite to join me in asking the federal government to help us bring Ontario up to speed. We need all these partners together and we can make it happen.”
Scott adds although it’s a federal responsibility, Ontario has been as steadfast funding partner for broadband projects across the province, providing reliable and affordable broadband service.
Today, Minister @Sflecce and I penned a letter to the federal government calling on them to join us in expanding reliable broadband access to more Ontarians.
Take a read! https://t.co/n68ql1jOal
— Laurie Scott (@LaurieScottPC) May 31, 2020
The Federal Conservatives have released a rural Internet policy.
Kenora MP Eric Melillo says we know all too well that there are significant gaps in our region, especially now during the coronavirus crisis.
“But given the fact that people are working from home, people are taking classes from home, or accessing government services. Right now during the COVID-19 pandemic, it just underscores how necessary it is to have reliable Internet connections.”
The Conservative Opposition’s Rural Internet Caucus policy document outlines how the government can improve Internet access in rural and remote regions and includes 14 recommendations.
Melillo says the government hasn’t taken a lot of action on the issue and he is hoping they take the recommendations seriously.
He calls them “Tangible and achievable measures that will help hundreds of Canadians.”
They include:
1. Alleviate short-term bandwidth shortages by requesting that ISP’s or other entities deploy portable Cell on Wheels in communities without Internet.
2. Develop a Canadian Broadband Strategy for rural Internet.
3. Create a Local Connectivity Infrastructure Fund.
4. Stop Big Telecom’s from profiting off of small business government funds.
5. Mandate transparency and accountability.
6. Require simple consumer contracts.
7. Implement a Municipal Ownership Model.
8. Changes to Spectrum Auctioning.
9. Addressing infrastructure concerns.
10. Provide industry-specific relief in light of COVID-19.
11. Extend deadlines for CRTC applications
12. Protect consumers and competition against predatory regional pricing.
13. Incentivize rural build outs through licensing.
14. Government investment according to an improved, results-oriented framework.
Conservative Eric Melillo also has presented the government with a petition that has been signed by hundreds of Canadians calling for action.
To hear more, visit the Audio link below.
A new study from the Northern Policy Institute finds faster broadband services aren’t available right now.
Sean Rosairo says about 121,000 people in northern Ontario aren’t able to use the web to communicate.
Rosairo says for those living in rural and northern communities, Internet infrastructure can be lacking and it can become frustrating or impossible to work at home.
“If you have two kids in classes at the same time, that’s pretty much half of your whole Internet. Let’s say the parents are also on video conferencing using the same software. That’s going to get really, really tight in terms of speed.”
He stresses to make matters worse, places we used to go to get faster Internet like the library or our favourite coffee shop are now off limits because of COVID-19 physical distancing.
The report calls for more broadband support from senior levels of government.
Tbaytel is offering high-speed internet to more rural communities in the region.
It has finished year two of a three year plan to expand its regional fixed wireless Internet network, rolling it out to 48 communities.
The upgrades extend from as far west as Kenora to Pic Mobert in the east and were made possible with a $3.5-million investment from Tbaytel.
That includes $1.5-million in funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.
The expansion included Sioux Lookout and Balmertown.
Tbaytel is using radio signals to transmit an Internet connection to an antenna on a home or business, instead of a wired connection.
