Who knew that a resolution from little old Maple Ridge would grab the headlines that it did this week in Victoria.
The suggestion for more awareness about accidentally dialling 911 got the support from the 2012 Union of B.C. Municipalities conference, as Maple Ridge council and mayor hoped it would.
Mayor Ernie Daykin, who’s on the E-Comm board of directors, says the Metro Vancouver area gets more than 100,000 calls a year from people who dial the service accidentally or when they sit on their cellphones.
The resolution called on the federal government to require greater public awareness from cellphone companies about the issue.
Daykin said somebody’s safety could be at risk if E-Comm operators are responding to an accidental call while not having time to respond to a real emergency.
Somebody who accidentally makes a 911 call should stay on the line and wait to talk to a dispatcher, otherwise precious time can be taken trying to ascertain that the hang up caller is OK.
“Hopefully, it can make a difference.”
Two Maple Ridge resolutions that failed to get UBCM support.
One was for creation of a municipal price index, that would gauge municipal spending on construction supplies municipalities need, rather than the consumer price index.
Having the new municipal auditor general office include municipal salaries as part of its formal duties also was rejected.
But UBCM Maple Ridge favoured resolutions calling for long-term funding for TransLink and for enabling fish access to historic spawning grounds behind B.C. Hydro dams, such as at Alouette reservoir.
Another resolution called for impact studies to be required when soil fill is brought on to farms.