An expert in emergency alerts says Canada has serious issues with its company-led model based on “discriminatory” technology that differs from alert systems worldwide, and should build one that puts the federal government in control.
Michael Hallowes spoke Wednesday during the ongoing public inquiry into the Nova Scotia mass shooting on April 18 and 19, 2020, and said he’d also presented his concerns to Canada years before the tragedy.
Hallowes is an independent advisor to governments on the design and delivery of public warning systems, and also helped build and run Australia’s alert program.
“It’s back to basics, if I may be so bold, about getting it right for the future,” Hallowes said.
Currently, the Ontario-based company Pelmorex owns Canada’s Alert Ready software system and operates it on behalf of the federal government.
Hallowes said this approach, where the supplier of the alert system also owns it, gives a lot of power to Pelmorex officials because they can choose how they want to handle the alerts or any upgrades to the system.
Michael Hallowes, an independent advisor on the design and delivery of public warning systems, speaks via video to the Mass Casualty Commission in Dartmouth, N.S. on May 11, 2022. (CBC)
“If it’s going to affect the bottom line, that it requires investment to improve the technology to keep pace with … capability requirements, they can choose to say no,” Hallowes said.
“In Canada, it’s very odd that you’ve put the commercial supplier in charge.”
In most other jurisdictions around the globe, Hallowes said a directive comes from the government that any upgrade would be a condition of the alert supplier’s license.
This means a federal minister and their office can be held accountable for the service, Hallowes said. On the next rung of the framework would be the frontline groups like emergency management offices, fire and police — who send the alerts — and then, Hallowes said, “quite deliberately at the bottom” of this ladder are supplier and regulator.
In Canada the system is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which as of 2018 requires participation from all wireless phone, radio and TV providers.
Canada’s alerts, according to commission documents, are now distributed simultaneously via television, radio, the Weather Network app, and LTE devices such as smartphones — but only on 4G networks.
Hallowes said this is a significant problem because many older phones can’t access 4G.
He said the alerts should be available to 95 per cent of the population — but Canada fell far short of that mark. When the first Alert Ready tests were done in 2018, Hallowes said only 35 per cent of cell phones received them.
“All of my warnings were born out by the results of those tests — that it was not reaching the vast majority because Canada’s choice of technology was discriminatory,” he said.
“It did not provide access or reach to the vast majority of cell phone users. And that is still the case today.”
Instead, most countries use SMS text messages for their alerts, Hallowes said, which can be sent to any cell phone connected to a network in a certain area.
He said this method also allows users on the other end, like police or emergency offices, to gather a “heat map” of cellphone points — randomized to protect privacy — so they can track in real time whether citizens are evacuating an unsafe area.
The SMS option offers a key advantage in active shooter situations where people may be hiding from a dangerous person with a gun, Hallowes said. If someone’s phone is on silent, the alert won’t override their settings and make a loud sound.
Canadians can’t silence alerts
He said this was a devastating lesson to learn after the 2011 Norway shooting, where dozens of teens who were killed by a gunman on a remote island were given away by the alert sounds on their phones.
Australia and other countries have systems that don’t override user settings, Hallowes said, but Canada does not. Currently he said someone hiding from a shooter in Canada would have to turn off their phone completely and give up the ability to call for help to ensure their location wasn’t revealed.
In February 2015, Hallowes said he attended an alert conference in Alberta where he outlined best practices like SMS. He also spoke about the importance of having guidelines for what an alert system should achieve —and then finding the technology to deliver it.
However, he said Canada has done things the other way around.
“What I found was that CRTC, the Defence Research and Development Canada, and the wireless service providers were dictating their technology was going to be sold to broadcast,” Hallowes said.
When Hallowes said he asked for any evaluation on what was behind this decision, he was “firmly told” the alerts would be retrofitted into what the technology could deliver.
At the time of the mass shooting, all agencies had to go through EMO to request an alert, which the provincial agency would then issue. The inquiry heard this week that the RCMP and regional police forces in Halifax and Cape Breton had been offered direct access to the alert system in 2016 and 2017, but declined.
Now, both the RCMP and Halifax Regional Police can issue alerts independently, which Hallowes said should be the case for not only all police forces but any first responder groups like fire departments.
In Australia, he said there are 38 organizations that have direct alert access, including eight police forces.
Hallowes also said that Australia’s alert system has been streamlined to have a standard of just eight minutes between a 911 call or emergency event, and an alert being sent out.
“I’m always very concerned by something called the paralysis of accuracy, whereby you wait and wait for the perfect situation awareness and you miss telling the public what they need to know right now,” Hallowes said.
“If I get it wrong, I’ll tell you I got it wrong and I’ll correct it. But waiting for this perfection of the information, it doesn’t happen.”
While Hallowes said he’s heard various concerns in Canada of police wanting to avoid alerts because 911 dispatch call centres would be overwhelmed, or people might get tired of the alerts popping up, he’s never seen any evidence of this being an issue internationally.
This tweet, posted at 11:32 p.m. AT, was the only public communication Nova Scotia RCMP issued about the mass shooting on April 18, 2020. The next update wouldn’t be until the following morning. (CBC)
Instead of requesting an alert from EMO, the RCMP tweeted late on April 18 about a firearms complaint in Portapique. They turned to Twitter again the next day around 8 a.m. AT to report that it was an active shooter incident.
The RCMP did not release the fact that the gunman, Gabriel Wortman, was driving a mock police car until 10:17 a.m. on April 19. An image of the vehicle was posted to Twitter.
When asked about using social media as emergency communication, Hallowes said it leaves out “a lot of people” who might not have the right app, be following the right accounts, or actively checking their phones at a crucial time.
Sandra McCulloch of Patterson Law, whose firm represents many of the N.S. mass shooting victims’ families, repeated her clients’ long-standing position that an alert would have kept their loved ones home “tucked inside” on April 19 and not crossing paths with the gunman.
She said an alert with clear instructions would not only have reached more Nova Scotians than a social media post, but properly carried the seriousness of the situation.
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
An alert would have allowed those on social media the ability to “distinguish this horrific event from all of the other content that gets glanced at and scrolled past,” McCulloch said.
The inquiry heard that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police passed a resolution in June 2021, echoing many of Hallowes’ concerns and calling for a review of the country’s public alerting system.
The resolution also asked that the police association be actively involved in the review, with the aim of extending alerting authority to all first responder public safety agencies.
It noted the Pelmorex licence to operate the alert system expires in August 2023, and said Public Safety Canada should “immediately suspend” any pending procurement around the system.
TORONTO – Magna International Inc. cut its guidance for its full year after seeing its sales decrease last quarter amid a global production slump of light vehicles.
In its outlook, the Ontario-based auto parts company said Friday it now expects total sales for 2024 between US$42.2 billion and US$43.2 billion, compared with earlier expectations for between US$42.5 billion and US$44.1 billion
The projections came as Magna, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported net income attributable to the company of US$484 million for its third quarter, up from US$394 million a year earlier.
It said the profit amounted to US$1.68 per diluted share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with US$1.37 per diluted share a year earlier.
But on an adjusted basis, Magna said it earned US$1.28 per diluted share, down from an adjusted profit of US$1.46 per diluted share a year earlier.
Sales for the quarter totalled US$10.28 billion, down from US$10.69 billion in the same quarter last year.
Magna chief executive Swamy Kotagiri said sales in the quarter were negatively affected by softer than anticipated light vehicle production in North America and Europe, in particular, amid a four per cent decrease globally.
While overall North American production fell six per cent in the quarter, production by Magna’s Detroit-based customers declined 12 per cent.
Light vehicle production in China also fell six per cent, while Europe saw a two per cent decrease.
The company said sales were also hurt by the end of production of certain programs, as well as divestitures, offset in part by the launch of new programs and customer price increases.
The company, which reduced its expectations for light vehicle production around the world, also said it now expects adjusted net income attributable to Magna of US$1.45 billion to US$1.55 billion for 2024, down from earlier guidance for between US$1.5 billion and US$1.7 billion.
“We are responding to the volatile operating environment and are focused on margin expansion, free cash flow generation and increasing return of capital,” Kotagiri told analysts on a conference call Friday to discuss its results.
Chief financial officer Patrick McCann also cautioned that the third quarter “does tend to be a low production period.”
Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau said that despite constrained production hurting sales, primarily due to supply chain disruptions and labour strikes, Magna’s future growth opportunities look strong.
He highlighted the company’s products supporting the development of electric and autonomous vehicles, such as sensors and software that help Magna typically earn more money per vehicle “given the increased content of technology added.”
“While volatility could remain in the near term, we believe growth will resume as depleted car inventories will take time to be replaced,” Windau said in a note.
“Magna is a supplier to top auto manufacturers and should benefit from increasing production.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.
NEW DELHI (AP) — A thick layer of toxic smog cloaked India’s capital on Friday as smoke from firecrackers used to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, pushed air pollution to hazardous levels.
New Delhi’s air quality index plunged into the “severe” category, according to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency. In many areas, levels of deadly particulate matter reached seven times the World Health Organization’s safety limit.
Authorities in the capital have banned the use and sale of traditional firecrackers since 2017, asking people to opt for environmentally friendly ones or light shows instead, but the rule is often flouted.
New Delhi, home to more than 33 million people, is regularly ranked one of the most polluted cities in the world.
The air pollution crisis deepens particularly in the winter when the burning of crop residue in neighboring states coincides with cooler temperatures that trap deadly smoke. That smoke travels to New Delhi, leading to a surge in pollution and worsening the public health crisis.
Emissions from industries without pollution controls and the use of coal, which produces most of the country’s electricity, are also linked to poor air quality in urban areas.
“We may not realize it now, but later we will face lung problems,” said Manoj Kumar, a New Delhi resident who does his morning runs around the capital’s iconic India Gate monument.
Several studies have estimated that more than a million Indians die each year from air pollution-related diseases. Tiny particulate matter in polluted air can lodge deep in the lungs and cause a variety of major health problems.
And the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender has dealt with his fair share of body blows.
He appeared poised to take over the No. 1 job last season until getting cut down by a high ankle sprain that cost him 2 1/2 months.
Woll wasn’t at the same level when he returned, splitting duties with crease mate Ilya Samsonov before the latter was tapped on the shoulder for the club’s first-round playoff series.
Then down 3-1 to the Boston Bruins in the best-of-seven matchup, Woll came off the bench and backstopped the Leafs to consecutive victories, but suffered a back injury in the dying seconds of Game 6 that ruled him out of the finale.
He had a long summer to again think about grabbing hold of one of hockey’s most pressure-packed positions — the starting netminder in the sport’s biggest media market — after Toronto lost Game 7 in overtime.
Anthony Stolarz, a journeyman with a solid resume, had signed in free agency, but the job appeared to be Woll’s until groin tightness again sidelined him just prior to the season.
A younger version of the 2016 third-round pick might have handled yet another setback differently.
“I think now I understand there’s things you can control and there’s things you can’t,” Woll explained. “Sometimes when you get injuries like that, you can’t really control much. At the end of the day, I know the work I put in, and I’m confident in that.”
On the heels of an iffy debut, the 26-year-old is starting to look and feel like his old self.
Woll made 24 saves Thursday in Toronto’s 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken after allowing four goals on 26 shots in a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues last week.
“A little more comfortable in my second game,” he said. “Getting back into the flow of playing. I look forward to continue playing and keep finding that rhythm.”
Woll, who grew up in suburban St. Louis, entered 2024-25 with a 21-13-1 record, .912 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average across 36 regular-season games to go along with appearances in seven playoff contests in an injury-stunted career since first breaking into the NHL in 2021.
He watched Stolarz put up an impressive stat line for Toronto (6-4-1) in October with a 4-2-1 mark, .916 save percentage and 2.45 GAA.
Woll said those numbers haven’t added any pressure.
“You can focus on that, (but) I think it’s a bit of a waste of attention,” he said. “Regardless of what situation you’re in, you’re always going to feel a little pressure. That’s what makes playing here pretty fun. I was just really happy to see (Stolarz) do as well as he did.
“It’s a team sport at the end of the day. We’re looking to win.”
Woll’s teammates have been impressed with how he’s handled a string of disappointments on the physical side.
“He’s had a real good approach,” Leafs centre John Tavares said. “Just controlling what he can and focusing on the next day, the next opportunity, and then maximizing that.”
First-year Toronto head coach Craig Berube said Woll’s professionalism has stood out.
“This guy’s dialled in,” he said. “Very on top of what he needs to do.”
Toronto winger William Nylander pointed to Woll’s mental toughness.
“A lot of resilience,” he said. “The work ethic is there every day. That’s why he’s the goalie he is.”
“A test of his character,” added forward Matthew Knies. “No shock to me.”
Woll, however, has had his moments.
“There’s a little bit of emotion and disappointment and frustration when you do get hurt,” he said. “I try to allow myself to feel those things and be human for a bit … then you have to turn the page and look to what’s important.
“And what gets you back.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
