9-1-1 service explored more
Access would begin in city, annual
operating costs estimated at roughly $700,000
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, May 29, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Access to 9-1-1 emergency phone service would likely start in Yellowknife with a city-operated dispatch centre fielding calls before the service is expanded to other communities, a committee of MLAs were told Wednesday.
Deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs Tom Williams, left, speaks about implementing 9-1-1 service in the territory at a committee meeting Wednesday. Minister Robert C. McLeod sits at centre while director of public safety Kevin Brezinski is on the right. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
"The research shows 9-1-1 is achievable," said Robert C. McLeod, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. "However, the service does not come without a cost to both the government and consumers."
McLeod, deputy minister Tom Williams and director of public safety Kevin Brezinski gave the standing committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure an update on bringing the service to the territory.
The government favours an option that would contract through an existing dispatch centre - there are currently two in town, one run by the city and the other by the RCMP, who has expressed that it does not want to take on any additional dispatching.
This option also requires the introduction of fees to pay for the service. The fee would apply to landline or cellphone subscribers across the territory, including those without access to 9-1-1. The service, under the preferred option, would expand to other communities as they have staff and facilities in place to take the calls.
Although budget estimates for the service were presented, all three cautioned they are preliminary figures that will be refined as work continues through the year.
Start-up capital if an existing dispatch centre is used were estimated at $100,000 before staff and training, with operating costs totaling roughly $711,700 per year. In the first year, this would amount to a cost of $71,700 for the GNWT, with the remainder made up by subscribers.
However, this doesn't mean 9-1-1 will work anytime soon. The minister said another update will be given to the committee before the fall election and it will be up to the next government to move the project forward.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who is chairman of the committee, said he would like to see 9-1-1 service rolled out. But he knows that's easier said than done.
Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro said she was glad to see progress being made.
"It's been a longtime coming," she said.
Another option presented was for the GNWT to build and run its own 9-1-1 dispatch centre.
The option of building a standalone centre, which needs to be able to withstand various disasters and have backup power, would have a price tag of approximately $725,000 in capital and overhead. Plus, there would be annual operating costs of nearly $2 million, including staff. This amounts to $1.2 million borne by taxpayers, for the first year, through the GNWT.
A third option would be to use an existing dispatch centre outside the territory at a total cost of about $900,000 annually.
