Manhunt fallout: N.S. premier calls on RCMP to improve emergency alert protocols
January 7, 2021
By
The Canadian Press
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil says the RCMP must change how it alerts the public to dangerous incidents.
McNeil made the comment today as more questions arose about why it took more than three hours for the Mounties to request a provincewide Alert Ready message on Wednesday to warn residents about a gunman at large in northern Nova Scotia.
The premier says the Mounties must “fix their protocols.”
Provincial Justice Minister Mark Furey also weighed in, saying the Mounties have to “compress the time” it takes for them to get Alert Ready messages prepared for distribution by the provincial Emergency Management Office.
McNeil repeatedly stressed that once the EMO had received the text message from the RCMP at 11:35 a.m., it took only seven minutes for the agency to transmit the message to TV, radio and wireless devices across the province.
The shooting suspect, who had fled from New Brunswick on Tuesday, remained at large for almost 19 hours before he was arrested Wednesday by police in Amherst. N.S.
