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CBC
10 hours ago
- General
- CBC
New 911 call centre aims to change the way calls are dispatched in northern communities
More residents in Nunavik will soon be served by a new emergency call centre opening in Saint-Eustache Que., just outside of Montreal. Dispatchers will respond to 911 calls from five of Quebec's northern communities in the hopes of improving emergency response, says Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's Indigenous affairs minister. He made the announcement Tuesday alongside officials from the Kativik Regional Government as well as Saint-Eustache and Nunavik police. This new call centre is an extension of a pilot project that was launched in March 2023 following the death of a police officer in Kuujjuaq in 2013. A commission into his death found emergency call service in the region needed to be improved. The volume of calls has increased since then — highlighting the need for a dedicated space to support the volume. Before this system, residents were often connected right to a police officer on the ground, says Shaun Longstreet, deputy chief for the Nunavik Police Service. Using a 10-digit phone number for emergencies, residents would be calling police officers directly on their radio, in public, he says. "If we're out in an intervention where we have to arrest someone, and then the call comes in, we have to arrest and speak with the person and take all the information," explained Longstreet. He says the approach is "just something that's not acceptable in 2025." Lafrenière says the very fact that emergency calls were dispatched directly through the radio meant there wasn't always a secure line. But he says now, things are changing. Aim to extend service to all 14 communities by 2029 The provincial government is contributing more than $4 million to the Kativik Regional Government to support this project. At the existing call centre in Saint-Eustache, Lafrenière says three Nunavik communities were covered by this service. Now, dispatchers will be answering 911 calls from five villages in Nunavik, which he says will soon increase to seven — with the goal of extending the service to all 14 communities by the end of 2029. "The purpose was just to try it," said Lafrenière. "And with no surprise, it worked perfectly." He says dispatchers on site were specially trained with language and culture top of mind. Many dispatchers also travelled up to Nunavik to meet with individuals from the communities to help them better understand "the realities," he says. Other communities were consulted to take on this initiative, including Iqaluit and Cree communities, but they did not have the capacity, said Lafrenière. He notes that the dispatchers in Saint-Eustache speak English but if callers only speak Inuktitut, the dispatchers have a chart with helpful words and also the option of transferring the call to a translation system, he says. "Dispatchers are excited," said Thierry Vallières, director of police in Saint-Eustache. He says currently, about 96 per cent of calls that come in are in English. But with added stress, callers might revert to their first language of Inuktitut, which is why he says it's a priority to find more speakers to join the team soon.
Hamilton Spectator
18-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Nunavik village declares state of emergency after fire breaks out amid water shortage
MONTREAL - A village in Quebec's Far North has declared a state of emergency after a fire ravaged two homes in the community, which is already struggling with a months-long water shortage. The municipal council for Puvirnituq, Que., an Inuit community in the Nunavik region, made the decision Saturday after crews struggled to contain a blaze that ignited at around 3 p.m. In a Facebook post late Saturday night, Mayor Lucy Qalingo said two homes were lost and that federal and provincial governments should 'stop ignoring' the needs of northern communities she characterized as 'forgotten Canadians.' The persistent water shortages in Puvirnituq prompted the Quebec government to begin evacuating patients from a health facility there earlier this week. Its 2,100 residents have been without consistent water deliveries for about two months after a water main froze in a blizzard in mid-March. The village has instead been forced to bring in water by truck in extreme weather on icy, snowy roads. Quebec says the health centre has reported an increase in people seeking treatment for gastroenteritis amid the water shortage. Ian Lafrenière, the minister responsible for Indigenous affairs, said in a statement on social media that fire crews indicate the water pipe should be restored 'shortly.' He says some 54 tonnes of water have been hauled via overpass to the village and distributed to residents since Friday afternoon. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
18-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nunavik village declares state of emergency after fire breaks out amid water shortage
MONTREAL – A village in Quebec's Far North has declared a state of emergency after a fire ravaged two homes in the community, which is already struggling with a months-long water shortage. The municipal council for Puvirnituq, Que., an Inuit community in the Nunavik region, made the decision Saturday after crews struggled to contain a blaze that ignited at around 3 p.m. In a Facebook post late Saturday night, Mayor Lucy Qalingo said two homes were lost and that federal and provincial governments should 'stop ignoring' the needs of northern communities she characterized as 'forgotten Canadians.' The persistent water shortages in Puvirnituq prompted the Quebec government to begin evacuating patients from a health facility there earlier this week. Its 2,100 residents have been without consistent water deliveries for about two months after a water main froze in a blizzard in mid-March. The village has instead been forced to bring in water by truck in extreme weather on icy, snowy roads. Quebec says the health centre has reported an increase in people seeking treatment for gastroenteritis amid the water shortage. Ian Lafrenière, the minister responsible for Indigenous affairs, said in a statement on social media that fire crews indicate the water pipe should be restored 'shortly.' He says some 54 tonnes of water have been hauled via overpass to the village and distributed to residents since Friday afternoon. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2025.
CBC
16-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Hospital patients in Puvirnituq, Que., being flown south due to ongoing water emergency
Social Sharing Some patients at the hospital in Puvirnituq, Que., have been flown south for care because of ongoing water shortages in the community and at the hospital. Since Wednesday, some patients have been moved to health centres down south, according to Santé Québec — though it wouldn't say how many. The community has been facing a serious water supply problem after a critical water pipe – connecting the pump station to the treatment plant – froze in mid-March. That's slowed the delivery of water by trucks, with harsh weather conditions and slushy roads complicating matters. The local hospital has run out of water several times in recent weeks, health workers say. Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's minister responsible for relations with the First Nations and the Inuit, said he's been receiving information from regional partners, including the Kativik Regional Government and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, for the past three weeks. "They said that they were in control, but about two days ago, they said 'we've decided to launch an emergency,'" he said, referring to the crisis management response that's been activated. Two planes loaded with water left Montreal for Puvirnituq on Friday morning. The province's ministry of public security said three more water deliveries are scheduled over the weekend, though that's subject to weather conditions. There is blowing snow in the forecast this weekend. Lafrenière said that although decisions should be made by regional partners on the ground, his government is ready to provide more support as needed. That may mean moving people out of the community. "If this is the case, we'll be ready to do so. Our planes are ready for that," he said. 'Running water is a very, very basic thing' Dr. Yassen Tcholakov, Nunavik's acting public health director, said they've set up a dedicated monitoring system for illnesses. There's a rise in gastroenteritis, and he believes other illnesses could be spreading because of the water shortage. "Having running water is a very, very basic thing. That's how we kind of got rid of many diseases, not through fancy medicines or even through vaccines — it's simply having hygiene and sanitation. And that's something that people right now do not have access to," he said. While the troubles in Puvirnituq have become acute in recent days, he said such issues are not new and are bound to happen again. "Almost all communities operate with very similar systems that are very frail, very prone to failures because they're old," he said. "They're reliant on many different steps where, along the way, there can be issues going wrong and issues that are completely out of control, from people, environmental issues, storms, bad road conditions." Lafrenière said he hears calls to move away from the water delivery system in Nunavik, though getting pipes to houses isn't easy. He points to other Arctic communities, like Iqaluit, which do have that system but still rely to some degree on trucked services. He also says that in Nunavik, the impact of climate change makes that change difficult. "The houses are shifting, houses are breaking. We got a new school that will be remodeled because of the melting of permafrost," he said. He points to the tens of millions of dollars each year the provincial government provides, just for training and water infrastructure in Nunavik, but he said the problems in Puvirnituq have highlighted an urgent need to find a long-term solution fast.
