9-1-1 available in Whitehorse since 1994
Council examines Yukon model to consider implementing services locally
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Published Friday, January 16, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Unlike in Yellowknife where people must dial a seven-digit number in an emergency, residents of the Yukon's capital city have been dialing 9-1-1 since 1994.
The service was originally established through an agreement between the Government of Yukon and Northwestel. That evolved the following year into a partnership between the Yukon government, the City of Whitehorse and the RCMP. The service is limited to the city and its 80 km-radius, stated Mac Hislop, a communications analyst with the Yukon government, in an e-mail.
Landline users in the area are charged a monthly tariff by Northwestel for the service, at a rate set by the CRTC, which regulates communications in Canada.
The Yukon government signed a contract to have the RCMP provide a 9-1-1 call centre for police, fire, and ambulances in the city, stated Hislop.
The system works well, and the Yukon government is now planning to expand the service territory-wide, which could take two years to fully implement, stated Hislop.
Back in Yellowknife, Mayor Mark Heyck says 9-1-1 service is something city council wants. The mayor said council has been eyeing the successful model in Whitehorse and requesting the GNWT to get on board in paying for the service, but until recently, the territorial government wouldn't consider rolling out services unless they could be offered across the NWT.
"It's our understanding that the (Yukon) government is a strong supporter of 9-1-1 services in Whitehorse, and we've been trying to work with the territorial government here to realize that as well because the operational costs of operating it ourselves would be somewhat overwhelming," he said.
A 2009 report jointly ordered by the city and territorial government found a territory-wide 9-1-1 service would have cost $1.2 million annually to maintain.
"The GNWT insisted for quite some time that 9-1-1 would have to be available everywhere in the territory if it was going to be implemented anywhere," he said. "But they do seem to be a little more flexible in this past year, in terms of how it might roll out and how it might be phased in," said Heyck.
In the meantime, the city has centralized its dispatch facility.
"So previously, we had all of our emergency calls run through our pump house, because it was staffed 24 hours," he said.
"But with the construction of the new water treatment plant, we would be moving that function to the new fire hall, which would mean a core group of dispatch staff that would be available 24/7 to serve that function in a 9-1-1 system."
