N.S. premier blasts telecom companies in wake of Fiona, calls on Ottawa to step in with regulation

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is calling for more transparency and co-operation from major telecommunications companies, blasting them for not being more involved with provincial co-ordination efforts in the wake of a major storm that knocked out service for hundreds of thousands of people across Atlantic Canada.

In a news release Wednesday, Houston's office said he wrote to Francois-Philippe Champagne, the federal minister responsible for telecommunications, to ask Ottawa to take action to ensure companies provide the public with information about service outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.

"Nova Scotians have questions about when their service will be restored, how widespread the outages are and what the companies plan to do to ensure this never happens again," Houston said in the news release.

"It is unacceptable that there are Nova Scotians who can't call 911 or connect with loved ones during this difficult time. There is no question we need our telecommunications companies to step up and be more transparent."

Unlike Nova Scotia Power, which operates a detailed outage map that provides anticipated restoration times, telecommunications companies have no such requirement. Consumer advocates have warned that a lack of accountability would continue unless the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) steps in with greater regulation of the industry for things such as performance standards.

In his news release, Houston said officials with the province's Emergency Management Office requested that key critical infrastructure partners, including telecom companies, send a representative to the provincial co-ordination centre.

"Not one telecommunications company was initially willing to send a representative. Only after complaints to senior leadership did Bell agree to send a representative in person, who attended the centre for two days before announcing they would work virtually. Eastlink, Rogers and Telus declined to attend the [centre] in person during the initial response."

CBC News has reached out to Rogers, Telus, Bell and Eastlink for comment on Houston's statement today. 

Houston said the response from telecos is in stark contrast to Nova Scotia Power, the Canadian Red Cross, Halifax Regional Municipality and Cape Breton Regional Municipality, all of which have "actively sought opportunities to communicate regularly with Nova Scotians leading up to, during the storm and after the storm."

"Other service providers have come together in an effort to make sure Nova Scotians have the information they need, yet the telecommunications companies are consistently missing from the table," said Houston.

"We are calling on the federal government, as the regulator, to ensure that telecommunications are accountable for their performance in emergencies and transparent with customers."

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said his government is "very active in this space," pointing to the response in the summer to widespread outages of the Rogers network.

LeBlanc said the government would look at what regulatory measures would be necessary "if we conclude that the companies aren't doing everything that they can" to build up more resiliency and redundancy in their systems.

Speaking in French, National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier said the telecommunications systems are essential. When those systems fail, people cannot access vital information and often are unable to pay for necessary supplies, she said.