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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City council has renewed its move toward starting 911 emergency call services in Yellowknife, after voting to proceed with preliminary steps recommended in its most recent 911 feasibility study.

The first step - there are 34 points suggested in the report - will likely be to request GNWT funding.

"It's important the GNWT be in on this to make it work," said city councillor David Wind.

The City of Yellowknife has been trying to implement 911 services for more than a decade. It first explored emergency three-digit dialing in 1992, then again in 1998, shelving both initiatives because it was unable to overcome financial and technical barriers.

The city tried again in 2002, when the chief coroner of the NWT urged city council to review 911 feasibility after a snowmobile accident claimed a life.

The third endeavour resulted in a 2004 report dubbed the "Final Report of the City of Yellowknife 9-1-1 Feasibility Study and Implementation Analysis."

The $47,500 study was paid for by the GNWT and the city in equal amounts. City administration at the time called the report "complete," stating it offered "both a comprehensive view of the existing City of Yellowknife emergency dispatching service in addition to providing information of different modes of 911 emergency services program delivery."

In its briefing to 2004 council members, city administration added: "The study reviews all aspects of providing 911 services to Yellowknife and compellingly argues that it is feasible and should not only be implemented but that it can be implemented both smoothly and in a timely manner."

However, the report's main recommendations hinged on the co-operation of the RCMP to set up Public Service Access Point (PSAP) services, which the RCMP decided it did not wish to pursue.

The city then undertook a fourth 911 study in 2007, hiring Vancouver-based Planetworks Consulting Corporation. The company filed its $125,000 feasibility study report and implementation analysis - which was funded 80 per cent by the city and 20 per cent by the GNWT - with the city last month.

City councillor and 911 management committee chair Paul Falvo said there are three key reasons a new report was needed.

"One, the (2004) report just wasn't satisfactory," said Falvo. Other reasons included the inability to proceed with the system through the RCMP and significant changes in 911 technology and standards.

The 2004 report recommended "Basic-911" services, which doesn't always support Automatic Location Identification (ALI) and Automation Number Identification (ANI). The most recent report is based on "Enhanced-911" services, which includes automation display of the caller's location to the 911 call-taker.

Gord Van Tighem said the current report is more applicable to Yellowknife.

"I have read all the reports undertaken and the previous ones, while they had similar recommendations, were not as detailed as this," he said.

"Each report made recommendations, but in the previous cases those could not be followed, as one or another of the partners could not support the recommendations," he added.

If implemented, the 911 system will run in Yellowknife and six other communities, covering 77 per cent of the territory's population. Initial costs for the new system total $1,018,000 to set up the system in Yellowknife and the six targeted communities, and $1,290,000 annually to run it.

Solid detail on items like costing options are the key difference between the most recent study and the 2004 report, according to city councillors.

"The 2004 report provides an overview of possible 911 options for Yellowknife and surrounding (areas) but does not provide much in the way of solid implementation, such as costing," said Coun. Shelagh Montgomery.

She added the 2004 report "set the stage for the recent report which provides much more detail with respect to options, requirements and recommendations."

Coun. Bob Brooks said the 2004 report provided council "with a lot of preliminary information to help us understand what a 911 service is all about," and added the new report was needed "to help us bring other partners on side," like the GNWT, "and to update equipment requirements."

Comparisons of reports aside, Coun. Mark Heyck said he believes the city will soon have its final 911 answer - whether it's a successful start-up of 911 or not.

"If the dual conditions of financial support from the GNWT and the joint participation of the territory's larger communities can't be met, then it may be time for the city to go in a different direction," said Heyck.

"There are still improvements that can be made to our fire and ambulance dispatch system, independent of whether or not 911 happens," he added.