PORT HOOD: A funding application from a group consisting of local municipalities and First Nations was turned down by the Universal Broadband Fund.
Inverness CAO Keith MacDonald told the regular monthly meeting of Inverness Municipal Council on July 7 in Port Hood that the municipality teamed up with Richmond and Victoria counties, as well as local First Nations, for their application which was submitted in January 2021.
“There was a particular portion of that fund that would’ve supported cell initiatives within First Nations communities,” he told council.
MacDonald confirmed they were turned down in correspondence from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
“Our funding was not approved due to the overwhelming amount of applications that were submitted to the fund,” he said. “That would’ve looked at supporting three new cell towers within the participating municipal units.”
Warden Bonny MacIsaac said she was disappointed.
“Hopefully in the next round we’ll be more successful,” he stated.
Noting that better cell service is one of Inverness County’s top priorities, MacDonald said problems persist.
“I know it’s an issue that continues to come up in every region, particularly District 1 in northern areas, all over District 2, areas of District 4 areas just outside and in this building,” he said. “This has been relayed to council as one of our regional issues, so we’ll have to continue to look at potential options. It was suggested by our neighbouring municipalities that we collectively send an invite to our MLAs.”
The CAO added there might be sources of funding under the provincial broadband initiative from Develop Nova Scotia, and council agreed to set up a meeting.
Because of the poor cellular service in Inverness County, a community group lobbying for better internet connectivity is also pushing for improvements in other communication services.
Better Internet for Inverness County — which has members from the Margarees, Judique, Creignish, Marble Mountain, and Glendale areas — contacted all Inverness County volunteer fire departments to gather their concerns about cell phone and Trunked Mobile Radio (TMR) coverage. They said all but one department responded and all shared the same concern that more cell towers are needed in the county to meet their needs.
The group said people are at great risk when they cannot get the help they need, and emergency responders cannot request the support they require when at the point of emergency. They said the departments point to the health and safety risk for Inverness County residents because of the lack of proper communication support for their equipment.
Cell phone dead spots and sporadic difficulties with community back up battery power are two of the main sources of these communication concerns, the group noted.
Although many residents are hopeful that the roll-out of fibre op in the area will improve internet service, Eileen Coady of Margaree Forks said people trying to work from home, those moving to the area, as well as groups and businesses are all impacted.
Coady said there is little confidence in the communications system, noting the local fire department has encountered problems during power outages and motor vehicle collisions.
The group said the West Bay Road Volunteer Fire Department experienced a situation where they did not have working cell phones or TMRs to communicate with the community or fellow first responders for four days.
The group said a member of the Mabou Volunteer Fire Department spoke of a situation when one of the members went in the ditch and remained alone for several hours until the rest of the troop were able to find him because he was not within cell range.
Group member John “Smokey” MacNeil of Creignish reported other situations when the communication system in Mabou was down, and the Fire Chief in Whycocomagh reported they had no landlines or pagers recently.
The group said because cell phones, UHF ultra-high frequency radios, pagers, and all other connectivity devices require appropriate connectivity, more towers are needed in Inverness County.
Another group member John MacInnis said back-up power for the phone system is inadequate, and that was demonstrated two years ago in Judique when the community lost all communication in the span of two hours because back-up batteries were not maintained.
The group is pushing for legislation that ensures service providers carry out consistent scheduled service to community batteries which ensure landline systems work. The provincial government needs to initiate clear, strict mandates for service providers, they stated. The group said it also wrote the Fire Service Association of Nova Scotia to ask them to join the push.