1) In Letters below are some follow-up ones I sent a couple of days ago re. the loss of 911 service. I sent an email to Claude Doucet, Chair of CRTC. The address is correct because I received an acknowledgement. Please consider sending your own letters to him. We have a way to stop the implementation of digital phone service now, but Telus is busy basically forcing people to make the switch, telling some they will lose their service if they refuse. It is possible for us to have the advantage of fiber optic for internet without having to have the phone tied to the internet, which it will be if the copper lines are cut. Please do not refer to me or my letter which could lead him to believe we are a group rather that a bunch of upset citizens.
2) For our Earth Day project — I suggest everyone write to your Senators asking for support of the amendments to CEPA to include EMF to make our environment healthier. Full details are in this update from April 9:
https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/2022-04-09-help-needed-now-if-we-want-a-healthy-environment/
(click on photos to enlarge)
TIME TO PROTECT THE EARTH – 5G WIRELESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
“We have work to do. When it comes to wireless and wildlife, there is a complete lack of government accountability.
EHT Executive Director Theodora Scarato asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if they had reviewed the science on impacts to birds, bees and trees. The EPA wrote back that “the EPA does not have a funded mandate for radiofrequency matters, and we are not aware of any EPA reviews that have been conducted on this topic.”
https://ehtrust.org/time-to-protect-the-earth-5g-wireless-and-the-environment/
3) One of the main justifications for smeters was that they could collect data that manual reading of meters couldn’t do. Data is a gold mine and often makes more money for the company than the product they make or sell. Utilities are able to obtain data beyond that needed for billing purposes, and once the Zigbee chip — the second transmitter that is in our ITRON smeters — is activated, more information of a very personal nature will be gathered and transmitted wirelessly via the Internet of Things. And BC Hydro could activate this transmitter without telling us. It will communicate with every “smart” device in the home. It is becoming harder to buy anything that doesn’t have a chip in it. This article implies how this will happen but more info about AI and what data is available is missing.
AI Used to Tap Massive Amounts of Smart Meter Data
“Technocracy has sought to control energy since the 1930s. Smart Meters were rolled out in 2008 with the promise that they would never be used to collect personal data. Now it comes full circle where AI is being used to harvest vast amounts of consumer data to sell at a huge profit. ⁃ TN Editor”
https://www.technocracy.news/ai-used-to-tap-massive-amounts-of-smart-meter-data/
Letters:
From: “snoble19” <snoble19@shaw.ca>
To: “claude doucet” <claude.doucet@crtc.gc.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2022 5:23:46 PM
Subject: 911 service threatened
Dear Mr. Doucet,
Over the last year I’ve sent many emails to various agencies and government departments in an attempt to find out how 911 service will be provided when landlines are no longer reliable. Several of the recipients, including the CRTC (no names provided) have given no answers but told me they had referred my concerns to you. The most recent is attached, a letter from Trevor Brupsingh, Dep. Minister, Public Safety Canada. (see April 19 update for letter) [https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/2022-04-19-update-on-911-service-without-copperlines/]
To date I have received no response from you or your office. Certainly as Chair of CRTC you must have access to this information, perhaps having considered the ramifications of leaving people without 911 service during a prolonged power outage.
Not only are the most vulnerable, those with small families, the elderly and the disabled, in danger of being unable to call for help during an emergency, but they are unaware that they might be left without a working landline. Their telephone carriers are cutting the copper line and replacing it with a digital phone that is electricity-dependent without telling them, and without explaining the ramifications. Yet CRTC, Telus, and Public Safety Canada is advising that preparation for such an emergency is their responsibility. How can they prepare for something they know nothing about? And why should they spend money for additional batteries to run the modem when 911 access, according to CRTC policy, is the responsibility of the telephone companies?
These are questions to which I would like answers. You, Mr. Doucet, are apparently the only one who can provide them.
I am hopeful that you can provide the information that I seek and have been seeking for many months. I look forward to receiving your response in the near future.
Regards,
Sharon Noble
Victoria, BC V9C 3V5
__________________________________________________________________________
From: “snoble19” <snoble19@shaw.ca>
To: “Bill Blair” <Bill.Blair@parl.gc.ca>
Cc: “randall garrison” <randall.garrison@parl.gc.ca>, “Linda Carey” <Linda.Carey@gov.bc.ca>, “advocacy” <advocacy@carp.ca>, “info” <info@consumerprotectionbc.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2022 4:25:40 PM
Subject: Third request — 911 service threatened
Dear Min. Blair,
During the 6 months since my last email to you, I have been attempting to get answers from other departments, such as Public Safety Canada. (please see attached letter) Unfortunately it appears that no one has any answers or, in fact, considered this problem before approving and encouraging the discontinuance of copper lines for home phone service.
This is not a rhetorical or hypothetical question. This month there have been severe storms across Canada leaving many thousands without power for extended periods. Here in British Columbia wind storms caused trees to fall, leaving many without power for many hours. I have received emails from people telling me they were without phone service, leaving them without the ability to get help in the event of an accident, a fire, etc. This is unconscionable.
The consistent response I’ve received from CRTC, Telus, and Public Safety Canada is that it is up to us, each family, each individual, to make preparations. For example both Telus and CRTC said we should buy additional batteries to power the digital access. We should be responsible when according to CRTC licensing requirements telecoms must provide 911 access.
I fear that my next email will provide you will details of harm, even deaths, that result from people not being able to access emergency help because they did not have phone service. If this happens, it will not be our fault. It will be the fault of all of those who knew the potential for harm existed and did nothing.
By the way, please do not tell me you are referring my email to Mr. Claude Doucet, Chair of CRTC. I’m told that my concerns have been sent to him, but, like you, he has not responded.
Regards,
Sharon Noble
Sharon Noble, Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“If it isn’t fiber, it isn’t broadband.” Fiber Broadband Association