Internship Update from Dr. Alexander Kostenko
February 1st, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it necessary for me, like many others, to work from home – unlike my predecessors in the program I actually haven’t spent a single day in Ottawa since the start of my internship! Fortunately, the office I’m working at – MP David Sweet’s – and indeed the whole Parliamentary system has adjusted to the realities quite well: committees, caucus meetings and Parliament itself is partially or completely virtual, allowing me to participate from the comfort of my home (and sometimes still in my pyjama pants – don’t tell my boss).
I’ve worked on a variety of projects ranging from constituency work to social media outreach, but the main thing I’ve focused on has been internet connectivity programs. The Federal and Ontario Provincial governments have announced over a billion dollars in financial assistance to develop internet connectivity, and I’ve been working with internet companies of all scales to make sure our riding gets a share of this funding. It’s been incredibly rewarding to know that my work is helping improve connectivity and economic opportunities for thousands of people. I also haven’t forgotten about the UCC, and have been working on a variety of initiatives that will hopefully benefit the Ukrainian-Canadian community (I can’t provide details now, but let’s just say Netflix is working on something big for the hromada). All in all, it’s been a wild few months, but I absolutely love this tremendous internship opportunity I’ve been given.
Screenshot from the MP Sweet team weekly meeting (one of two) – discussing operational materials.
