Boy calls 911 after receiving snow pants as Christmas gift

Ontario Provincial Police say a seven-year-old boy called 911 to report his dissatisfaction with receiving snow pants as a Christmas gift.

Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says the boy made the call at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday to complain about the gift.

Officers ensured there wasn't an actual emergency at the boy's home, Schmidt says, adding that he believes the boy was spoken to about calling 911 for non-emergencies.

Schmidt says non-urgent incidents or fake emergency calls take up time and resources from first responders that should be used for real emergencies.

"If the person hangs up, we have to follow up on the person and go and track them down," Schmidt told CBC News. "We have to treat every call as an emergency."

Toronto police Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook says that her force encourages discussions between parents and their children about the appropriate use of 911.

"If there is an emergency and they need for police to get there as soon as possible, by all means educate them and teach them how to call 911, but at the same time there needs to be an awareness as to the importance of not using this number inappropriately," she said.

Schmidt said he doesn't believe there will be any charges as it doesn't appear that the call was done maliciously.