City of Calgary extending 911 service to Tsuut’ina Nation
Tsuut’ina Nation members will now have their emergency calls dispatched or transferred through Calgary 911, under an agreement formally signed on Tuesday.
The arrangement — which has been in place for the past month — means that Calgary 911 will field emergency calls from Tsuut’ina residents, transferring calls for police or ambulance to the appropriate service, and providing dispatch services for Tsuut’ina Fire.
Previously, Tsuut’ina’s emergency services had been co-ordinated through the regional Foothills 911 operations centre.
Tsuut’ina Chief Lee Crowchild called the agreement “an important step” for both communities as the First Nation pursues plans for a massive commercial development along a stretch of the future southwest ring road.
“This is a natural evolution of a growing city and our growing community, ” Crowchild said. “Wehave a development that’s happening here, a major, major development, so it’s prudent that we start establishing those relationships.”
Crowchild said the agreement also helps clarify how the city engages with the reserve in emergency situations. He said he’s also hopeful that the changes will reduce response times.
The contract will see Calgary 911 monitoring the safety of firefighters as they respond to call son thereserve. It also covers non-emergency calls from Tsuut’ina, including notifications from alarm companies.
“This is more important than an agreement,” Crowchild said. “Our relationship with the City of Calgary has beenalong andsometimes very trying relationship. But we as Tsuut’ina have pulled forward and we continue to move forward because it’s important to the future generations.”
Thearrangement is based on two contracts between Tsuut’ina and the City: one for 911 services and one for fire dispatch services. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“(It’s) a very cost-effective opportunity for us to provide the services to the Nation and to the fire department, and do so with the capacity we have as a very large 911 centre,” said Calgary 911 commander Doug Odney.
Odney said in the more than 30 years that he’s worked in emergency response, the Nation and the City have often been “very much siloed and partitioned.”
“I’m so pleased to see that we’ve reached this point in time that we can have such great partnership and relationship with our neighbouring First Nations to make sure that emergency services is accessible to everyone calling 911,” Odney said.
Deputy Mayor Ward Sutherland attended the signing ceremony Tuesday and said the agreement had been in the works for “the past couple of years.”
“It’s not just a piece of paper. It’s about our relationship,” Sutherland said. “It’s been divergent in previous years, and with reconciliation going forward, this is just one piece of the puzzle.”