It seems like yesterday - actually four years ago - when Brian Tobin was running around with a $4-billion "new national dream" to deploy broadband to all Canadians by 2004 to support the agenda of an organization called the Canadian National Broadband Task Force. You know what Ottawa did? Nothing, nadda, zip? Instead, it has been the provinces that carried out the agenda - particularly in Western Canada where Alberta built the SuperNet project and, more recently, B.C. where the government and Telus are rolling out broadband to rural communities. Nevertheless, the federal government is still talking the talk about improving the country's "broadband infrastructure".  Earlier this week in Toronto, Industry Minister David Emerson said he's seeking more funding because Canada's competitive edge in broadband is eroding and he wants to make sure we don't fall behind. That's a fine statement but how much money does Ottawa think it needs? And who's going to operate these networks? As well, I haven't heard Finance Minister Ralph Goodale talk about broadband funding, which is unlikely to be a major election issue next spring. If Emerson wanted to be more effective, he'd work on getting the wireless carriers to introduce number portability a lot sooner than mid-2007.