{"id":21168,"date":"2019-05-10T08:02:23","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T12:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=21168"},"modified":"2019-05-10T07:58:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:58:22","slug":"gelinas-911-everywhere-in-ontario-bill-will-save-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/gelinas-911-everywhere-in-ontario-bill-will-save-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"G\u00e9linas\u2019 911 Everywhere in Ontario bill will save lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

NDP MPP France G\u00e9linas held a press conference at Queen\u2019s Park on Thursday to\u00a0help enact\u00a0a law that will save lives by ensuring that all Ontarians have access to 911 emergency services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G\u00e9linas\u2019\u00a0bill,\u00a09-1-1\u00a0Everywhere\u00a0in Ontario<\/em>, is up for debate in the Ontario legislature on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Bill 75 has three parts. The first will do away with 1-800 numbers in case of emergency, and migrate to 911 everywhere in Ontario. Secondly, the bill will implement the Ontario Chief Coroner’s recommendations to improve the 911 emergency system. Lastly, Bill 75 will give the Ombudsman the responsibility to investigate complaints against the 911 system.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have an opportunity\u00a0to save lives,\u201d said G\u00e9linas. \u201cNot one more person in Ontario should die because they do\u00a0not\u00a0have access to 911.\u00a0 In many parts of the province when you call\u00a0911 you are met with a not-in-service message. This has had fatal consequences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MPP G\u00e9linas was joined by Vanessa\u00a0Foran, President and CEO of Asthma Canada, and Brenda\u00a0Missen, sister of the late Kathryn\u00a0Missen\u00a0who died because 911 failed\u00a0her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 2014, in\u00a0Casselman, a village near Ottawa, Kathryn\u00a0Missen called\u00a0911, but problems with the dispatch system had tragic consequences. During a severe asthma attack, she was having difficulty breathing and could not\u00a0verbally\u00a0communicate what was happening\u00a0to the 911call-taker. \u201cThe system we all rely on in an emergency failed her. Help did not arrive until two days later \u2014 when it was far too late,\u201d said her sister, Brenda\u00a0Missen. Kathryn\u00a0Missen\u00a0was found deceased in her home next to the phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cCoroner\u2019s Inquests have revealed that there have been avoidable asthma-related deaths when victims have called 911 and not had\u00a0help\u00a0appropriately dispatched. We\u00a0at Asthma Canada are hopeful that implementing this bill with\u00a0the recommendations of the Coroner\u2019s Report, related to training for responding to inaudible calls, will ensure tragedies like these never happen again,\u201d said\u00a0Foran.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G\u00e9linas\u2019\u00a0bill is based\u00a0 on the recommendations made by Ontario\u2019s Chief Coroner after the tragic death of Kathryn\u00a0Missen, and boating accident victims Matthew Robert\u00a0Humeniuk, Michael Isaac\u00a0Kritz,\u00a0and Stephanie Joelle Bertrand on Lake Wahnapitae in Nickel Belt. The Coroner\u2019s inquest found that 911 emergency services\u00a0failed them.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Toni\u00a0Kritz-Roque,\u00a0whose brother Michael Kritz died in the Lake Wahnapitae\u00a0boating accident, said, \u201cWe are very hopeful that this proposed legislation does not get lost in the shuffle of partisan politics and that all parties recognize its importance and value in ensuring the safety of all people living in Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBy supporting this bill,\u00a0we\u00a0can take action on the\u00a0Coroner’s recommendations\u00a0to improve our system so that these tragedies are not in vain. This law will also\u00a0help people regain confidence in this critical service,\u201d\u00a0MPP\u00a0G\u00e9linas said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Support for\u00a0Bill 75,\u00a09-1-1\u00a0Everywhere in Ontario<\/u><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Helena\u00a0Shepherd-Snider\u00a0called 911 while her husband was having a heart attack in 2016 and was shocked to hear this message: \u201cYour emergency call cannot be completed as dialed. This service is not available. Call ‘O’ for operator assistance.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Shepherd-Snider said that when she spoke to the operator,\u00a0“the operator didn\u2019t know what to do when time was of the essence.\u00a0 Over the past three years, we have spent countless hours over this upsetting situation which has caused our family undue stress and anxiety.\u00a0This has got to change. Everyone in Ontario expects, requires, and deserves 911 access.\u201d <\/span>– Helena Shepherd-Snider, senior citizen from Nickel Belt\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI can personally attest to the effect a modern dispatch centre with efficient,\u00a0competent dispatchers have on the operation of our department.\u201d\u00a0– Doug Barefoot,\u00a0Fire Chief of Owen Sound Fire & Emergency Services<\/em><\/p>\n

“As someone who works in a 911 Emergency Communications Call Center I know how important 911 calls can be.\u00a0I strongly support you\u00a0(G\u00e9linas)\u00a0in your effort to getting this important service to all your constituents and to the entire population of the province.”\u00a0<\/span>– Mike Shantz, President Northern911<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThe 911 service is a right of all individuals and we strongly feel\u00a0that this should be provided to our location.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>–\u00a0\u00a0Daniel\u00a0Beaupre\u00a0of\u00a0Kirkland\u00a0Lake Gold Mine<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill supports a better system through elements of technology, training, supervision, processes and support.\u201d\u00a0– Mark Train, Vice President of the Ontario Professional Firefighters Association<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NDP MPP France G\u00e9linas held a press conference at Queen\u2019s Park on Thursday to\u00a0help enact\u00a0a law that will save lives by ensuring that all Ontarians have access to 911 emergency services.\u00a0   G\u00e9linas\u2019\u00a0bill,\u00a09-1-1\u00a0Everywhere\u00a0in Ontario, is up for debate in the Ontario legislature on Thursday afternoon. Bill 75 has three parts. The first will do away …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-provincial"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 12:46:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21170,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21168\/revisions\/21170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}