Industry Canada Emergency Telecommunications - Responsibilities
Legal Responsibilities
Emergency Preparedness Act 7.(1): Every
Minister accountable to the Parliament of Canada for
the administration or affairs of a government
institution is responsible for identifying the civil
emergency contingencies that are related to the
Minister's area of accountability and developing a
civil emergency plan therefore.
The Federal Policy for Emergencies approved by
Cabinet on May 2, 1995 gives to the Minister
responsible for Industry Canada the following
responsibilities for emergency telecommunications.
With respect to civil emergency preparedness in
general, the department is responsible for developing
and maintaining civil emergency plans for:
-
the provision of advice and assistance to federal
departments and agencies with respect to the
telecommunications requirements of their emergency
response functions and related civil emergency
plans (lead role);
-
the provision of advice and planning assistance to
provinces and municipalities with respect to
emergency telecommunications and related warning
systems (lead role);
-
coordinating the provision of an emergency
broadcast service, based on the facilities and
services of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
Environment Canada and, as required, privately
owned networks and stations (lead role);
-
facilitating the provision of appropriate
telecommunications equipment or services required
in emergency response operations, as requested by
lead federal departments; e.g. In close
collaboration with the telecommunication industry,
updates a national and regional inventory of
telecommunication equipment which could be used in
time of emergency.
-
providing advice and assistance, as appropriate, to
private or public telecommunications undertaking in
mitigating the disruptive effects of emergencies on
domestic and external telecommunications (lead
role);
-
the provision of guidance, advice and coordination
assistance to Canada's national and international
telecommunications networks and broadcasting
systems, with respect to the communications
requirements of emergency responders, the rapid
reception and transmission of inter-regional and
transborder warnings to affected populations, and
the dissemination of essential public information
(lead role); and
-
the coordination and management of programs to
ensure the availability of telecommunications to
meet federal requirements during periods of system
overload or degradation (lead role).
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