Halifax says new plan will help city properly communicate in emergencies

The Halifax municipality has a new plan to better communicate with residents in emergencies, and staff say upcoming artificial intelligence tools could help gather details in real time.

Staff gave councillors an update on the municipal crisis communications plan on Monday. It lays out who is responsible for crafting and issuing messages, and what should happen in the first hour of an emergency.

The main principles of the plan say the Halifax Regional Municipality should share information quickly, in plain language, and explain the exact actions residents must take if needed.

Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini said he has come to realize, after being involved in multiple local crisis events, how important it is to release quick and accurate information.

"When there are information gaps — boy, do residents fill up those gaps, and that can be dangerous. Very dangerous," Mancini said during the executive standing committee meeting.

Lessons from recent emergencies like Hurricane Fiona and the Upper Tantallon wildfire also influenced the plan.

"There was no … plan, quite frankly, in the previous responses. It was best effort," said Bill Moore, Halifax's commissioner of public safety.

The plan said the provincial Alert Ready system should be used to send a message to all cellphones in times of "imminent life-threatening" events, like evacuation orders during natural disasters, air quality issues or chemical hazards.

The city's hfxALERT system, which is subscriber-based and currently has about 44,500 people signed up, should be used for less pressing situations like upcoming weather events that might pose a "moderate" risk to residents.

An incident in January when picric acid was discovered in Dartmouth marked the first time this crisis communications plan was used, staff said.

The plan said one site with frequent updates — like a page on the city's website — should be prioritized, rather than employing a piecemeal approach across multiple channels.

Coun. Cathy Deagle Gammon said when residents turn to councillors for information, it makes sense to share one page with the latest information, rather than crafting their own responses.

"Information is gonna change and be fluid — it's hard to stay on top and be current when you're dealing with a crisis," Deagle Gammon said.

Chief administrative officer Cathie O'Toole said Halifax also works closely with the province and its new Emergency Management Department. She said the province will start using artificial intelligence to gather "real-time situational awareness" during large emergency events by monitoring social media.

Provincial spokesperson Patricia Jreige said the PC government is looking to buy Dataminr software that would monitor public social media accounts, or newsfeeds, from municipalities, police and weather organizations for emergency management topics like hurricanes, storms and floods.  

She said the tool won't be used to search private social media accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X.

Jreige said the software costs about $15,000 a year and the province expects to begin using it this summer. She said the tool is part of the move to 24/7 monitoring at the provincial emergency co-ordination centre.

The tool could also help address a recommendation from the Mass Casualty Commission that the province and Nova Scotia police agencies should run an education campaign to increase awareness about public warnings and how to respond to them, Jreige said.

Staff told councillors on Monday that Halifax Water now has the ability to send its own intrusive provincial alerts without waiting for HRM, and the utility now has a policy dealing with boil-water advisories after public backlash over how recent incidents were handled.

Halifax Fire, Halifax Regional Police and Halifax RCMP can also send provincial alerts without going through HRM if an update must be shared as quickly as possible.

A consultant's report from 2024 said Halifax's various emergency documents and policies evolved in an "ad hoc manner over decades," and the city should update those plans across the board.

A staff report to the committee Monday said some of these projects are underway, like a hazard risk vulnerability assessment, while a new comprehensive emergency management plan will be started soon.