Industry Canada's Community Access Program will connect up to 10,000 rural and urban sites - some 20 of them in the Niagara region. The Port Robinson library site has been particularly successful in its efforts in helping seniors go on-line to find health news, conduct banking transactions and get driving directions. One other component of our Connecting Canadians agenda deserves special emphasis here - electronic commerce . Management expert Peter Drucker maintains that e-commerce is to the Information Revolution what the railroad was to the Industrial Revolution. He reminds us that the invention of the railway enabled people to master distance and tap distant markets.
Electronic commerce goes a step further.
There is only one economy, and only one market. Fantom Technologies makes household appliances in Welland. Fantom demonstrates a trend. You will deal with many of your suppliers and corporate customers through electronic commerce. To prosper in the knowledge-based economy, Canadians must be masters of electronic commerce.