The Tory MLA for Cape Breton-Richmond says she’s concerned by landline and cell phone coverage for her constituents.
Alana Paon says she spoke to more than 50 residents in the Framboise, Fourchu and Grand River area.
She says she became aware of the issue in the summer of 2017, when landlines were going out for weeks at a time.
Paon tells The Hawk she’s taking concerns to Derek Mombourquette, the province’s EMO minister, and EMO officials.
“There’s still coverage issues in that area so the lines are still staticky- these are landlines that we’re talking about,” she says. “The lines are so staticky, as well as unfortunately, calls are still dropping; the issues have not been resolved so I’m trying push this forward.”
Paon says she’s aware of a church burning and a car crash, both situations where there was no immediate access to 911 because of cell coverage.
She says CRTC reps told her the issue was resolved, but that hasn’t been the case.
Paon says location isn’t favourable.
“If this issue was a longstanding issue like this in an urban environment or a more highly-populated environment, it would have been resolved and dealt with a long time ago.”
Paon says the safety of rural residents should never be jeopardized because of where they live.
She says they’re doing a letter-writing campaign and a petition, and she’ll bring the topic to the legislature when sitting resumes Tuesday.