It seems that the quest for better emergency communications in the area will begin with a letter to the CBC.
As part of the fall out from the apparent near collapse of communications following the Thanksgiving weekend windstorm, local politicians will be seeking answers from the CBC as to why their transmitter in the region was not capable of returning to air and providing emergency information to the region's residents.
As part of the fall out from the apparent near collapse of communications following the Thanksgiving weekend windstorm, local politicians will be seeking answers from the CBC as to why their transmitter in the region was not capable of returning to air and providing emergency information to the region's residents.
As we outlined last week on the blog, many local residents have been quick to express their concerns over the city's inability to provide updates on the post storm situation, a concern that local politicians seem to believe begins first with the national broadcast operation in the city.
The topic of the CBC's transmission problems (which we explored in our piece, along with the troubles of the local private radio station and of the City itself) formed part of a wider discussion at Regional District last Friday, as local District members examined a number of storm related concerns.
Chief among them, the need for some form of central command location to better provide information to local residents.
Chief among them, the need for some form of central command location to better provide information to local residents.
While they may have a number of items on their to do list when it comes to better preparedness in times of emergency, at the moment their attention will seemingly directed towards the CBC, reminding them of their mandate to provide service to the Northwest and asking them if northwest communities can expect emergency broadcast service in the future.
Details on the Friday session were provided in an item posted on the Northern View's website on the 19th.
2 comments:
I find it interesting that our politicians are quick to point their fingers at the CBC.. Have they thought about creating a city information website and a 24-hour phone line to keep the citizens informed instead of wasting more time finding fault elsewhere? Get on with it.
They do have the infrastructure in place for both, they have a very underused website and are owners of a telephone company, you would think that it wouldn't take much to make both your suggestions a reality.
As for the CBC and its transmitter problems (the private stations too for that matter) using them as the first line of defence provides for a handy bit of deflection from the way that the weekend played out as far as official information.
One would imagine that other communities most likely have stations with back up transmitters and would have been back on the air much sooner than our local options.
Though considering how things were at one time, there is such little presence in our local media these day,s that even if they could broadcast one wonders how effective they would have been.
Post a Comment