{"id":1258,"date":"2026-05-04T16:14:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mariannedandurand.ca\/?p=1258"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:57:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:57:59","slug":"compton-stanstead-mp-marks-first-year-in-office-marianne-dandurand-presents-highlights-from-her-first-year-as-member-of-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mariannedandurand.ca\/en\/2026\/05\/04\/compton-stanstead-mp-marks-first-year-in-office-marianne-dandurand-presents-highlights-from-her-first-year-as-member-of-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill C-268 : Cellular connectivity in rural areas brings together elected officials and community stakeholders in Ottawa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Ottawa, May 4, 2026 \u2013<\/strong> Municipal elected officials, representatives from the economic and community sectors, and parliamentarians gathered today in Ottawa to highlight the challenges related to cellular connectivity in rural regions, on the occasion of the second reading of Bill C-268, An Act respecting the Spectrum Policy Framework for Canada, in the House of Commons.<\/p>\n<p>While many communities still lack reliable cellular service, including along major roadways, the discussions shed light on the concrete impacts of these gaps on public safety and economic development.<\/p>\n<p>Supported by growing consensus across the country, Bill C-268, introduced by Compton\u2013Stanstead MP Marianne Dandurand, proposes measures to improve the situation, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ensuring better quality and independent validation of cellular coverage data;<\/li>\n<li>more clearly integrating the realities of rural regions into spectrum-policy decisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>MP Dandurand emphasized that the issue goes beyond political divides. \u201cAccess to cellular networks is a matter of public safety, economic development, and fairness between regions,\u201d said Dandurand, who also chairs the Liberal Rural Caucus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Senator R\u00e9jean Aucoin committed to sponsoring the bill in the Senate once it is adopted by the House of Commons.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Michel-Henri Goyette, Mayor of Martinville and initiator of an ongoing petition on the House of Commons website, spoke about the reality faced by municipalities like his. \u201cIf we had cellular connectivity, we could communicate with the outside world even during a power outage or an Internet service disruption. We are very grateful to Ms. Dandurand for taking on this issue. Her bill is a step in the right direction,\u201d said Mayor Goyette.<\/p>\n<p>From the business community, Dominic Arsenault, representative of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers and owner of IGA Coaticook, highlighted the concrete impacts on businesses in rural areas: \u201cIn 2026, it\u2019s simply unacceptable that some regions still don\u2019t have reliable cell service. Businesses need dependable connectivity to run their operations, reach customers, and stay competitive. It\u2019s time for real action\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As the bill continues its parliamentary process, today\u2019s discussions reflect a clear willingness to move this issue forward.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI invite all relevant partners to continue working together to meaningfully improve connectivity in rural regions,\u201d concluded MP Dandurand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">-30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ottawa, May 4, 2026 \u2013 Municipal elected officials, representatives from the economic and community sectors, and parliamentarians gathered today in Ottawa to highlight the challenges related to cellular connectivity in rural regions, on the occasion of the second reading of Bill C-268, An Act respecting the Spectrum Policy Framework for Canada, in the House of Commons. While many communities still lack reliable cellular service, including along major roadways, the discussions shed light on the concrete impacts of these gaps on public safety and economic development. Supported by growing consensus across the country, Bill C-268, introduced by Compton\u2013Stanstead MP Marianne Dandurand, proposes measures to improve the situation, including: ensuring better quality and independent validation of cellular coverage data; more clearly integrating the realities of rural regions into spectrum-policy decisions. MP Dandurand emphasized that the issue goes beyond political divides. \u201cAccess to cellular networks is a matter of public safety, economic development,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-communiques-de-presse-en"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bill C-268 : Cellular connectivity in rural areas brings together elected officials and community stakeholders in Ottawa - Marianne Dandurand<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mariannedandurand.ca\/en\/2026\/05\/04\/compton-stanstead-mp-marks-first-year-in-office-marianne-dandurand-presents-highlights-from-her-first-year-as-member-of-parliament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bill C-268 : Cellular connectivity in rural areas brings together elected officials and community stakeholders in Ottawa - Marianne Dandurand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ottawa, May 4, 2026 \u2013 Municipal elected officials, representatives from the economic and community sectors, and parliamentarians gathered today in Ottawa to highlight the challenges related to cellular connectivity in rural regions, on the occasion of the second reading of Bill C-268, An Act respecting the Spectrum Policy Framework for Canada, in the House of Commons. While many communities still lack reliable cellular service, including along major roadways, the discussions shed light on the concrete impacts of these gaps on public safety and economic development. Supported by growing consensus across the country, Bill C-268, introduced by Compton\u2013Stanstead MP Marianne Dandurand, proposes measures to improve the situation, including: ensuring better quality and independent validation of cellular coverage data; more clearly integrating the realities of rural regions into spectrum-policy decisions. MP Dandurand emphasized that the issue goes beyond political divides. \u201cAccess to cellular networks is a matter of public safety, economic development,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mariannedandurand.ca\/en\/2026\/05\/04\/compton-stanstead-mp-marks-first-year-in-office-marianne-dandurand-presents-highlights-from-her-first-year-as-member-of-parliament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marianne Dandurand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T16:14:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T16:57:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mariannedandurand.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_0695-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Javier Garcia Lopez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Javier Garcia Lopez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mariannedandurand.ca\/en\/2026\/05\/04\/compton-stanstead-mp-marks-first-year-in-office-marianne-dandurand-presents-highlights-from-her-first-year-as-member-of-parliament\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mariannedandurand.ca\/en\/2026\/05\/04\/compton-stanstead-mp-marks-first-year-in-office-marianne-dandurand-presents-highlights-from-her-first-year-as-member-of-parliament\/\",\"name\":\"Bill C-268 : Cellular connectivity in rural areas brings together elected officials and community stakeholders in Ottawa - 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