{"id":6690,"date":"2025-11-05T19:08:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/new-national-emergency-alert-system-proposed-in-federal-budget\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T19:08:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:08:05","slug":"new-national-emergency-alert-system-proposed-in-federal-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/new-national-emergency-alert-system-proposed-in-federal-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"New national emergency alert system proposed in federal budget"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Nova Scotia\u00b7NewThe federal budget is proposing more than $55 million for a new national emergency alert system, making good on a recommendation from the committee that examined the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.Commission that examined 2020 mass shooting in N.S. recommended comprehensive review of systemAly Thomson  \u00b7 CBC News  \u00b7 Posted: Nov 05, 2025 12:59 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe budget says the proposed funding responds to the Mass Casualty Commission\u2019s recommendations on public alerting. (Giordano Ciampini\/The Canadian Press)The federal budget is proposing more than $55 million for a new national emergency alert system, making good on a recommendation from the committee that examined the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.The National Public Alerting System, known as Alert Ready, sends Canadians critical information about emergencies like public safety threats and natural disasters through phone, television and radio. It is a shared responsibility between federal, provincial and territorial governments and industry partners.The Mass Casualty Commission, which examined the April 2020 shooting in Nova Scotia that saw 22 people killed, recommended a comprehensive review of the Alert Ready system to look at how it can be reformed.The RCMP were harshly criticized for not using the system during the massacre. At the time, Nova Scotia police agencies had to send a request for an alert to the provincial Emergency Management Office.RCMP relied on Twitter to provide information about the unfolding violence and manhunt for the killer, drawing the ire of some victims\u2019 family members who said an official alert could have saved lives.An expert who testified at the public inquiry also raised concerns about the alert system\u2019s company-led model. Currently, the Ontario-based company Pelmorex owns the Alert Ready software system and operates it on behalf of the federal government.The budget tabled on Tuesday proposes providing $55.4 million over four years to Public Safety Canada, beginning in 2026-27, to support a new alerting model. It said $13.4 million would then be provided on an ongoing basis.Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O\u2019Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)Darcy Dobson\u2019s mother, nurse Heather O\u2019Brien, was driving when she encountered the shooter, who was a stranger, on April 19, 2020.At the time, she knew police had been responding to a situation in Portapique, N.S., about 25 kilometres away, but she was killed before police tweeted that the suspect was on the move driving a replica RCMP cruiser.O\u2019Brien\u2019s family has been adamant that she wouldn\u2019t have been on the road if the Mounties had shared more information earlier.Heather O\u2019Brien, a mother of eight, with her husband and grandkids. (Submitted by Darcy Dobson)On Wednesday, Dobson said she was cautiously optimistic about the new alerting system.\u201cI will always believe a public alert would have prevented the murders of many innocent people on the morning of April 19, 2020, including the murder of my own mother,\u201d Dobson wrote in a statement Wednesday.\u201cThis announcement does come with some skepticism, however. You can throw money at anything and never solve a thing. There needs to be meaningful change at every level of government.\u201dDobson added that she will be watching closely for more details about what the new system might look like and how the criteria of alerts will be defined.The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the independent federal body that regulates and supervises Canada\u2019s communications sector in the public interest, is seeking public feedback about how to improve the alert system.The CRTC said the goal is to improve the accessibility of alerts, consider whether alerts should be distributed in languages other than French and English, and ensure they are available across the country.MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORAly Thomson is an award-winning journalist based in Halifax who loves helping the people of her home province tell their stories. She is particularly interested in issues surrounding women\u2019s health, justice, education and the entertainment industry. You can email her with tips and feedback ataly.thomson@cbc.ca.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nova Scotia\u00b7NewThe federal budget is proposing more than $55 million for a new national emergency alert system, making good on a recommendation from the committee that examined the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.Commission that examined 2020 mass shooting in N.S. recommended comprehensive review of systemAly Thomson \u00b7 CBC News \u00b7 Posted: Nov 05, 2025 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,129,1],"tags":[116,128],"class_list":["post-6690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-nova-scotia","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-nova-scotia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}