Summary#
Bill 9, An Act Respecting the Emergency 911 Act, would amend New Brunswick’s Emergency 911 Act and Regulation 96-104 under that Act. It would define the NB 911 service to cover coordination from receipt of an emergency request until the appropriate providers attend, and give the Minister new powers and duties. Its stated goal is the effective operation of the service; that is a goal, not a guaranteed result.
- The regulation would designate the Medical Communications Management Centre, operated by EM/ANB Inc., and the Provincial Mobile Communications Centre, operated by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, as secondary public safety answering points for all areas of the province.
- The Minister could establish advisory committees and set equipment and technology standards for public safety answering points. If specified regulations have not been made, the Minister could also establish other arrangements, procedures, standards, policies, directives, protocols and services for the 911 service. The Regulations Act would not apply to those minister-established measures.
- Emergency service providers and their employees would have to share information, including personal information, with staff at another provider or answering point when needed to operate the service or perform their 911 duties. Unauthorized use or disclosure would be an offence.
- The Minister would have to make a public annual report on the service. The bill would also allow regulations requiring monitoring reports and setting security, continuity and incident-reporting rules for the service and its providers.
- The bill is at first reading, is not law, and would take effect on a day or days set by proclamation.
What it means for you#
- People who call 911: The bill defines the service to include coordination through the point when the appropriate emergency providers attend. It does not guarantee a response time or change who is eligible for emergency help.
- Emergency service providers and answering-point staff: They would have to disclose relevant information to specified colleagues when the bill’s necessity tests are met. They could not otherwise use or disclose information obtained through their 911 duties, except as needed to operate the service.
- Public safety answering points and emergency service providers: The Minister could set equipment and technology standards. The bill also authorizes regulations on provider performance, security and service disruptions; those specific requirements would depend on regulations being made.
- The public: The Minister would have to ensure an annual report is publicly available. The bill does not set its contents or require a particular publication method.
- People whose information is handled by the service: The bill permits required sharing of personal information for the stated 911 purposes, despite the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The bill does not create a new independent agency or a new front-line emergency service.
Money#
No cost information is in the available material.
- The bill gives the Minister powers and duties, including a duty to ensure an annual public report, but gives no cost estimate, funding amount or staffing figure.
- Future regulations could require reporting and security measures from providers and answering points; the bill does not estimate their costs.
- The bill states that unauthorized use or disclosure is a category F offence under the Provincial Offences Procedure Act. The supplied material does not give a fine amount.
What is unclear#
- The supplied material is the first-reading bill text, not the parent Act or a consolidated version of current law. I could not verify how the proposed changes compare with all current rules. No later amendment or adoption is established by the supplied material.
- The bill does not set a start date; commencement would be by proclamation.
- It does not set out the detailed standards, procedures or regulations that may follow, or say when they would be made.
- Terms such as “necessary” and “appropriate emergency service providers” are not defined in the bill text.
- The bill does not set out detailed safeguards for accessing, retaining or auditing personal information shared under the new duty.
Case for#
- The bill appears intended to support coordination across the stages of an emergency response, rather than defining the 911 service only around receiving and dispatching a request.
- Naming two existing communication centres as province-wide secondary answering points could give the system designated backup or transfer points. The bill does not say what operational changes this would require.
- Allowing standards and regulations on equipment, security, continuity and incident reporting could help address service disruptions and technology risks.
- Required information sharing could help staff coordinate when it is needed to operate the 911 service or carry out their duties.
Case against#
- The Minister could set a wide range of standards and procedures outside the Regulations Act process. The bill does not specify consultation, review or appeal steps for those measures.
- The bill requires some information sharing despite privacy law, but does not spell out detailed access, retention or audit safeguards.
- Many important rules are left for future regulations, so the bill alone does not show what providers would have to do or what those requirements would cost.
- A broader definition of the service does not itself ensure faster responses or that the appropriate providers will attend in any particular time.