Minister blasts Telus’ ‘lack of information’ during Manitoba 911 outage, calls for CRTC to step in

A Manitoba minister wants answers after a man died following failed 911 calls.

A provincial minister is calling for the CRTC to step in and take action after Telus refused to publicly release critical details surrounding a 911 outage during which a Manitoba man died.

On Monday, Manitoba’s Innovation and New Technology Minister Mike Moroz wrote a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in response to the outage.

“Our government strongly believes that all Manitobans need to be able to access 911 services in their time of need,” Moroz wrote.

His letter comes following the death of Dean Switzer, a 55-year-old man who suffered a heart attack at his home just outside Fisher Branch, Man. His family has said Dean’s wife and friends made more than 20 desperate calls to 911, but none got through.

Read more: Manitoba family unable to contact 911 during deadly heart attack

Telus has since confirmed there was an outage lasting 38 hours and 15 minutes from March 22 to 24, which impacted some customers’ ability to call 911.

Two months later, Telus filed a three-page final report following its investigation into the outage. However, the company redacted critical details such as what caused the outage, how many people were impacted, and what was done to fix the problem.

Click here to read more about the report: Telus has filed its final report on a 911 outage, but critical details are redacted

Telus cited security concerns of Canada’s 911 networks as the reason for the redaction, but Moroz said he’s not satisfied.

“The lack of information in the interim report and in communications by Telus with my office does little to reassure Manitobans they can count on these telecommunications companies,” the minister wrote in his letter, noting Telus did not alert the province of the outage at any point.

He has called on the CRTC to release the full unredacted report from Telus. He has also asked the federal regulatory body to direct all telecommunications providers in Manitoba to proactively alert the province and his department of any service disruptions or failures of 911 services.

“Matters of 911 service are of the utmost importance, and Manitobans need assurance from the CRTC that these networks will be available when they need them most,” Moroz wrote.

In a statement to CTV News, the CRTC said it is exploring more protections for consumers when it comes to outages, such as clearer communication from service providers, and whether refunds should be provided when outages occur.

“The CRTC is deeply concerned by all 911 outages given the significant effects they have on public safety, and shares Minister (Moroz’s) view that Canadians need to be able to access 911 services in an emergency,” the statement reads.

The CRTC said it received a confidential report from Telus in addition to an “abridged” version, which was released publicly. The commission said it is carefully reviewing the report, but could not comment further as it remains an ongoing matter.

Tories call for public inquiry

Opposition Leader Obby Khan called for a public inquiry into the outage.

“The family and Manitobans deserve an answer as to why the emergency system wasn’t working when they needed it most,” he said during Question Period on Monday. “Work has to be done to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future.”

In response, Deputy Premier Uzoma Asagwara, Manitoba’s health minister, called the situation an unacceptable tragedy.

“We’re going to work with partners who were involved to deliver the service to make sure that Manitobans don’t see that happen again,” they said.