Province, St. John's reach last-minute deal on 911 service

The City of St. John's and the Newfoundland and Labrador government have struck a deal on expanded emergency call service.

The agreement was announced Thursday evening, with the new province-wide basic 911 service set to come into effect this Sunday. 

Under the new agreement, the St. John's Regional Fire Department take on all 911 calls east of Goobies, later in March.

St. John's councillor Danny Breen said the new service will begin on time this weekend with the help of Corner Brook's emergency services.

"This won't delay the implementation of province-wide 911," he said.

"Somewhere around later around in March, once we have the system all ready to go, then the St. John's Regional Fire Department will assume those calls."

Operators in Corner Brook will be assisting with the fielding of calls for a few weeks until the province-wide system is up and running.

There had been some disagreement between the province and the capital city over the amount of control that St. John's would have over the operating budget and intellectual property of the service.

Paul Davis optimistic 911 deal can be hammered out with St. John's 

Dialing up the tension over 911: Province, St. John's at an impasse 

St. John's City Council still has to make the deal official, after they vote on the matter at Monday's council meeting.

The monthly telephone fee to operate the provincial 911 service will come into effect on March 1, 2015.