Nunavut MLAs want assembly TV channel used for emergency backup

The Nunavut Legislative Assembly wants permission to use their television channel for emergency broadcasts if another Telesat Canada satellite meltdown occurs. (FILE PHOTO)

In response to a request from Nunavut MLAs, the CRTC has agreed to consider a regulatory change that would permit use of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly television channel as an emergency communication service if another satellite meltdown hits the territory.

The CRTC issued a call for comment on the proposed change Jan. 18. They’ll make a decision after Feb. 12.

This past Oct. 6, a software glitch turned Telesat Canada’s Anik F2 satellite in the wrong direction, knocking out long distance calling, cell phones, electronic banking, internet connections and other services.

During the crisis, the Government of Nunavut and the RCMP struggled to maintain communication links with health centres, RCMP detachments and medevac providers.

About two weeks after that day, John Quirke, the clerk of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, wrote to the CRTC requesting the regulatory change.

“It is our understanding that Telesat has no backup satellite to move into the Anik F2’s orbit to resume communications service in the event the Anik F2 suffers another catastrophic failure,” Quirke said in his Oct. 19 letter to the CRTC.

The legislative assembly channel, which is broadcast on local cable television throughout Nunavut, is fed through the Anik F1 satellite, which operated normally throughout the Oct. 6 crisis, but was of little use.

About 50 per cent of Nunavut households subscribe to cable television.

“Although the broadcasts of our proceedings do not reach every household in Nunavut, our community penetration rate is sufficient to warrrant use of our infrastructure as part of an emergency broadcast system in the territory,” Quirke told the CRTC.

Quirke said the Nunavut Legislative Assembly would make arrangements with the Government of Nunavut’s emergency management organization, the RCMP, and other agencies on use of the channel during emergencies.

This would include video, audio and text information.

The proposed amendment would add a paragraph to a regulation called the “Parliamentary and Provincial or Territorial Legislature Proceedings Exemption Order,” which sets out rules for legislative broadcasts in Canada.