Manitoba calls on CRTC for answers on 911 outage
The Manitoba government has asked Canada's telecoms regulator to order a public explanation of a 911 outage that left a man's family unable to get through while he suffered a fatal heart attack.
In a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the province's Innovation and New Technology Minister Mike Moroz said he was not satisfied with Telus' three-page report to the regulator, which redacted the outage's cause and some additional details.
'The lack of information in the interim report and in communications by Telus with my office does little to reassure Manitobans that they can count on these telecommunications companies,' Moroz wrote to Marc Morin, the CRTC's secretary-general, on Monday.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Innovation and New Technology Minister Mike Moroz said he was not satisfied with Telus' three-page, partially redacted report to the CRTC about the failure to receive 911 calls in Manitoba in March.
Fisher Branch-area resident Dean Switzer, 55, died after suffering a heart attack March 23. Loved ones, who were Telus wireless customers, were unable to get through to 911 for more than an hour, the legislature was previously told.
Moroz's letter said more than 25 calls to 911 were placed while the service was down. The outage, between March 22 to 24, prevented the calls from reaching a 911 communications centre in Brandon.
Telus' report to the CRTC, dated May 16, did not disclose how many customers were affected nor what was done to fix the issue.
The report said technical details were kept confidential because 'bad actors' could use the information to attack Canada's 911 networks.
Bell is Manitoba's 911 network provider. Telus' report claimed the outage was due to a problem on Bell's side. Bell said the exact cause is not yet known, but the problem was resolved when Telus reset 'trunks' on its side of the network.
'While it's our expectation that telecommunication providers will actively work together, I am imploring you in this instance to order them to publicly collaborate to restore Manitoban's (sic) confidence in their operations across our province,' Moroz wrote. 'Furthermore, I ask that you direct Telus to release redacted portions of the report.'
Telus spokeswoman Liz Sauvé said a thorough investigation was conducted with Bell.
'I am imploring you in this instance to order them to publicly collaborate to restore Manitoban's (sic) confidence in their operations across our province.'–Minister Mike Moroz in a letter to the CRTC
'We will continue our ongoing dialogue with the provincial government to reassure them and all Manitobans that the right steps have been taken to prevent another disruption of this nature,' she wrote in an email.
A Bell spokesperson said 911 service and the Brandon 911 agency that receives calls were 'operational' during the time in question.
'Emergency calls from Bell customers and nine other service providers serving the area in question, with the exception of Telus, were successfully processed and delivered to the PSAPs,' the spokesperson wrote in an email, referring to public safety answering points. 'The exact root cause of the 911 call delivery issue as it relates to Telus-originated 911 calls is unknown, but we can confirm that Telus wireless 911 calls destined to Brandon PSAP were not delivered to Bell MTS.'
The spokesperson said a piece of equipment in Bell's network reset, and it is unclear why Telus 'ceased' sending 911 calls to Bell MTS when the reset occurred.
'When Bell was made aware that Telus 911 calls were not being routed to Brandon PSAP, we collaborated with Telus and attempted to reset 911 trunks on our side of the network, but this did not fix the issue,' the spokesperson wrote. 'Telus then reset trunks on its side of the network and 911 calling was restored.'
The spokesperson said Telus informed Bell that it attempted to reset the trunks on Telus' side prior to this, but the issue was not fixed.
It is possible the sequencing of resets resolved the issue, but it is not yet known, the spokesperson said.
'It did nothing to reassure the public that the emergency network is stable and working when they need it.'–PC Leader Obby Khan
'Telus has informed us that it has implemented automatic rerouting of 911 calls to its 911 third-party call centre in the event of a similar occurrence in the future,' the spokesperson wrote.
Moroz said Telus did not alert the province of any service disruption or failure.
He asked the CRTC to direct all telecommunications providers in Manitoba to proactively alert the province and his ministry when service disruptions or failures affect 911 services.
'When Manitobans reach out to 911, they need to be able to count on it being there,' Moroz told the Free Press. 'This is about ensuring that that system is in place, that it's infinitely reliable and that when it's not, those responsible for the maintenance of the service are held accountable.'
He said the CRTC has 'full authority' to investigate the province's concerns and 'take whatever action they feel is necessary.'
In question period, Opposition Tory Leader Obby Khan again demanded the NDP government call a public inquiry, citing 'minimal' details in Telus' report.
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'It did nothing to reassure the public that the emergency network is stable and working when they need it,' Khan said.
In response, Deputy Premier Uzoma Asagwara said the province will work with 'partners' who provide 911 service 'to make sure that Manitobans don't see that happen again.'
'There's a process for investigating these things. We're following that process,' Moroz told the Free Press.
— with files from Gabrielle Piché
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris KitchingReporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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