Public alert system proposal riles Liberals

The Liberals are expressing concerns that the Conservatives may be off-loading responsibility of a new public alerting system for emergencies and disasters on to the private sector.

In June, the CRTC approved an application by Pelmorex — a private company that owns The Weather Network — to distribute emergency messages over its own channels and any other networks or broadcasters that want to sign on.

The plan is to include weather alerts from Environment Canada but also to make it faster and easier for provincial and civic officials to warn people about forest fires, floods and other disasters in their area.

"The end result is your grandmother, wherever she lives, she’ll be able to see that warning on every cable channel or satellite channel that she gets; on local TV, over-the-air TV; on over-the-air radio, on her iPhone, via text message, email," said Paul Temple, a senior vice-president at Pelmorex. 

Temple said Pelmorex will cover all the costs and provide the service for free on the condition that the CRTC keeps the Weather Network on basic cable channels.

"That was the only way we could finance it," he said.

The federal government has been working on the CanAlert system since 2005 that would use the news media, cellphones and the internet to warn people about emergencies.

Last January, officials at Public Safety Canada said it would be running by next year.

But questions are being raised about whether the department is still working on its own system or if it's supporting the Pelmorex project. Officials at Public Safety Canada have yet to announce a definitive position on the issue.

Liberal MP Mark Holland, the party critic for public safety and national security, said he is concerned the private sector could get responsibility over an important public service.

"The idea that it might have been privatized to a cable company would be entirely unacceptable," Holland said.

"Clearly the government is doing this to cut corners and save money but they’re doing it at the expense of public safety."