Ndilǫ, N.W.T., residents have faced years of poor cell service, including for 911 calls

David Sangris, a life-long resident of Ndilǫ, sometimes has to drive over a kilometre just to make a phone call. 

Poor cell service in the N.W.T. community has made even simple tasks frustrating and time-consuming.

"I had to make an appointment for my son. I would have to park in front of Weavers (1.7 kilometres away from his house)," he said. "And if that wasn't good enough, I would have to go downtown to the grocery store parking lot just to make a phone call."

"Like right where we are right now. I couldn't even call my neighbour, and he's right here," Sangris said, pointing to Tililo Tili Street across from his residence.  

Because of this, Sangris says most of the community depends on Wi-Fi or simply walking to get in touch with people —except for some elders who have flip phones.

"Sometimes if they want to know something, they have to walk to the band office to find out, and they shouldn't — they should just call," Sangris said.

He said the community has lived with this for years, and it affects them the most during emergency situations.

"If you call 911, they'll cut. They'll hear me, then I won't hear them. And sometimes, if you just hang up and say 'never mind,' they still send us a squad car," he said.

Sangris said there have been times where they actually needed an ambulance instead — leading to delays. 

He said residents have shared these concerns with Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon on several occasions.

A public safety concern

The MLA for the community said the solution would be a new cell tower. He explained the closest one is near the Air Tindi float base. But a nearby hill blocks the signal from reaching Ndilǫ, which is at a lower elevation.

"So like yesterday, like for me to take this call, you have to come to downtown to make this call," Edjericon said.

Edjericon says all Ndilǫ residents pay for 911 service fees through their cell phone bills but don't receive the critical services needed in the community.

"It's a public safety and emergency concern right now ... we're paying into it, but it's no good if we can't get a hold of anybody," he said.

He says he brought this issue forward in the Legislative Assembly in November but hasn't seen any developments.

Now, Edjericon says he wants to work with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation to write a letter to the CRTC, the federal agency responsible for telecommunications.

"We'll bring our concerns in writing to the CRTC and then give them notice that this is a big issue, especially for our community of Ndilǫ," Edjericon said.

"If we don't do it, then it's going to be status quo, and we don't want that in the event of an emergency."

Jacqueline Michelis, a Bell Mobility spokesperson, told CBC in an email that they are aware of the congestion in the Ndilǫ area and have tried addressing it.

"Our teams worked to upgrade service on the island last year to help address the congestion. We are not planning any further enhancements at this time," Michelis said.

Michelis added that residents are encouraged to reach out to the telecommunications company so they can "better understand the needs of the community."

CBC also reached out to the territorial government to ask how it is addressing the issue but didn't receive a response by deadline.