911 interim service for rural Yukon hits a snag

The move to implement a Yukon-wide 911 emergency service has received a setback from the Canadian Radio Television Telecommunications Commission.

The Yukon government was working with Northwestel on an interim system where people in communities without 911 service, who dialed 911, would get an automated system that would connect them with the service they needed.

But, Whitehorse city councillor John Streicker says that proposal hit a snag.

"It turns out that the CRTC has all these rules around this," he said. "You can't just implement that. And so we're back sort of trying to work at the political side trying to get that in place."

Fire chiefs in Yukon communities want an emergency phone system similar to the one in the Whitehorse area. Dawson City fire chief, Jim Regimbal, cited a recent situation in his community where people from out of town didn't know the local number to call to report a fire.

The 911 issue was discussed at the recent Association of Yukon Communities annual meeting. Delegates to the AYC agreed to re-convene a territory-wide committee to look at alternate solutions.

The committee will also consider whether a 911 system can accommodate a request from the deaf community. It has been calling for the ability to text for emergency response.