“Instead of padding their pockets, David Eby and the NDP need to make public safety a priority” ~~ Elenore Sturko, Opposition Critic for Public Safety and Solicitor General

The NDP government’s refusal to fund provincial 911 and emergency communications services across the province could leave us vulnerable in the case of a major emergency, such as a natural disaster. This was the message delivered by Elenore Sturko to a group of 10 South Island mayors and councils who protested the downloading of the cost for services provided by E-Comm 911. Local municipalities are currently forced to shoulder the burden for provincial emergency communications.

“Most British Columbians don’t know that the province isn’t funding the services provided by E-Comm or that we don’t have a provincial emergency communications network,” said Elenore Sturko, Official Opposition Critic for Public Safety and the Solicitor General.

“There are communities in B.C. that currently do not have access to 911 services. This is outrageous after eight years of an NDP government."

E-Comm 911 is a private company that is contracted to provide 911 emergency communications services in British Columbia to multiple municipalities, except those who fund and provide their own. The Union of BC Municipalities, the BC Association of Chiefs of Police, municipal police boards, emergency service providers, and the union representing dispatch operators have been sounding the alarm about staffing challenges and under-funding of these services for years.

Sturko added, “David Eby gave NDP MLAs huge pay increases and hired more partisan staff instead of expanding standardized emergency communications to every corner of the province. Instead of immediate action, David Eby and his public safety minister are commissioning another study. The priorities of this government are completely out of alignment with what BC voted for last October.”

Sturko concluded, “BC’s emergency communications system currently exists as a patchwork. As our province continues to face natural disasters, it’s paramount that there be a coordinated emergency communications system that is standard across the province that doesn’t rely on individual municipalities to carry the financial burden for provincial safety. Instead of padding their pockets, David Eby and the NDP must make public safety a priority.”