The federal budget proposes more than $55 million for a new national emergency alert system, fulfilling a recommendation from the committee that examined the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
The National Public Alert System, known as Alert Ready, sends Canadians critical information about emergencies such as threats to public safety and natural disasters via telephone, television and radio. It is a shared responsibility between federal, provincial and territorial governments and industry partners.
The Mass Casualties Commission, which examined the April 2020 shooting in Nova Scotia that left 22 people dead, recommended a comprehensive review of the Alert Ready system to examine how it can be reformed.
The RCMP was heavily criticized for not using the system during the massacre. At that point, Nova Scotia police agencies had to send an alert request to the provincial Office of Emergency Management.
RCMP relied on Twitter to provide information about the unfolding violence and the search for the killer, drawing the ire of some relatives of the victims who said an official alert could have saved lives.
An expert who testified at the public inquiry also expressed concern about The business model of the alert system.. The Alert Ready software system is currently owned and operated by Ontario-based Pelmorex on behalf of the federal government.
The budget presented Tuesday proposes providing $55.4 million over four years to Public Safety Canada, starting in 2026-27, to support a new alert model. He said $13.4 million would then be provided on an ongoing basis.
Darcy Dobson’s mother, nurse Heather O’Brien, was driving when she encountered the shooter, who was a stranger, on April 19, 2020.
At the time, she knew police had been responding to a situation in Portapique, N.S., about 25 kilometers away, but she was killed before police tweeted that the suspect was on the move driving a replica RCMP cruiser.
O’Brien’s family has insisted she would not have been on the trip if the Mounties had shared more information sooner.
On Wednesday, Dobson said he was cautiously optimistic about the new alert system.
“I will always believe that a public alert would have prevented the murders of many innocent people on the morning of April 19, 2020, including the murder of my own mother,” Dobson wrote in a statement Wednesday.
“However, this announcement comes with some skepticism. You can spend money on anything and never solve anything. There needs to be significant change at all levels of government.”
Dobson added that he will be watching closely for more details on what the new system could look like and how alert criteria will be defined.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the independent federal agency that regulates and oversees Canada’s communications sector in the public interest, is seeking public comments on how to improve the warning system.
The CRTC said the goal is to improve the accessibility of alerts, consider whether alerts should be distributed in languages other than French and English and ensure that they are available nationwide.
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