N.W.T. hangs up on 911 request
The Northwest Territories government says it will not help pay for 911 emergency phone service until telecommunications and emergency services are improved in smaller communities.
Government MLAs turned down a request Thursday by the city of Yellowknife to share in the costs of establishing 911 service, which is currently not available in the N.W.T.
"There's just this [attitude of], 'We can't do it because it's not a priority for this government,' or 'We can't do it because, well, it's Yellowknife and, you know, Yellowknife gets everything and we don't want to go there,'" Yellowknife MLA Wendy Bisaro, a former city councillor, told CBC News on Thursday.
A feasibility report done for the city recommended that Yellowknife share the costs of setting up 911 service with the N.W.T. government and the six next largest communities: Inuvik, Hay River, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Norman Wells and Behchoko.
But that plan would only work if the territorial government contributed to at least half the total costs, according to the report.
Bisaro questioned the government's decision in the legislature Thursday, pointing out that the territory's chief coroner recommended 911 service after investigating a snowmobile death near Yellowknife almost seven years ago.
Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Robert C. McLeod said the government's decision has nothing to do with favouring certain communities.
"We want all people to have access to the service, and I think that's the bottom line," he said.
"You know, we want to be sure that if you're driving on the road from Wrigley to Tulita and something happens, you know, you have the ability to call 911 off your cell phone and get somebody out there."
The feasibility report concluded that it would take years to upgrade telecommunications in smaller communities so they can handle 911 service.
It recommended that the government share the costs of starting up and maintaining the service in the seven largest communities only, since they account for a total 77 per cent of the territory's population.
"That would leave 23 per cent without any kind of service at all, and that is a concern of ours," McLeod said in the legislative assembly.
"We would like to be able to assist in providing this service but we have to also ensure that this service, or any basic service, is available to a lot of remote communities we have out there."