The Board of NL911 says it is deeply concerned with government’s plan to fold the independent agency into the Department of Justice and Public Safety. Bill 41—Emergency 911 Act 2021 was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday and is scheduled for second reading today.
The Chair of NL911, Don Peckham, says members expressed their concerns at the March 10th Annual General Meeting. He says there has been a lack of planning, lack of consultation and lack of clarity on the expected efficiencies of folding the agency into government.
He says the CRTC has mandated telecommunications companies across Canada to upgrade their networks to allow Next Generation 911 service, yet there are no details on a governent plan to prepare the province for such a significant and important upgrade.
NL911 is worried that the fee charged from telephone service subscribers for basic 911 service, and the reserve set aside from those fees for the upgrade—with no further increase in fees to customers—will go into general revenue and the dedicated funding be lost.
