Provincial 911 services will not be centralized in Calgary after intense lobbying and a year and a half of negotiating with Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Penhold town council received a letter from Tara Veer, the mayor of Red Deer, informing them that the anticipated move of 911 services would not occur, but rather the administrative model was changing.
“After a year and a half of negotiating and talking back and forth with AHS we, along with our regional partners, were able to reverse the opinion from moving emergency dispatch services from Red Deer to Edmonton or Calgary,” said Veer. “The final model we arrived at was a collaborative approach with services staying where they are with service contracts being issued differently.”
The Red Deer mayor was quick to point out that communities like Penhold were instrumental in keeping 911 dispatch local with their support at council level, which she appreciated.
Penhold mayor Dennis Cooper noted former Red Deer mayor Morris Flewwelling was in office when the suggestion of consolidation was made and he asked local councils to come behind Red Deer's efforts to keep emergency response service local.
“We, along with Innisfail, Blackfalds and other Central Alberta communities wrote letters to the provincial government to keep service local,” said Cooper. “At one time, I found myself in the legislature and spoke to (MLAs) Cal Dallas and Mary Anne Jablonski on the pending move. They were solidly behind keeping it where it was.”
In March of 2014, the provincial government adopted the collaborative approach and the City of Red Deer sent letters of thanks out to supporting communities informing them of the decision.
