Local RCMP raises security concerns over New Brunswick NG911 clarification application with the CRTC

The New Brunswick RCMP is raising concerns to the CRTC that the province’s proposal for how it would like to adapt its next-generation 911 (NG911) services could put RCMP security at risk, in an intervention published Tuesday. The concerns are in response to a Part 1 application requesting clarification on whether or not independent local exchange carriers (ILECs) delivering NG911 services in New Brunswick may connect those networks to demarcation points determined by relevant 911 Governing Authorities that may not be located at Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). The RCMP noted in its intervention that it has “significant operational concerns regarding the format as it was presented; specifically related to law enforcement intelligence, information and methodology, and data security.” “If approved, the application could allow a third party data centre to access or monitor police and law enforcement communication; this would cause serious public and officer safety concerns,” according to the intervention signed by assistant commissioner Larry Tremblay, commanding officer with the J Division. The application, signed by Diane Pelletier, director of the NG911 bureau for New Brunswick’s Department of Justice and Public Safety, got broad support from public safety groups such as the Winnipeg Police Service, the Coalition pour le service 9-1-1 au Québec, and CanOps, the Canadian Public Safety Operations Organization. The original application stated that BCE Inc. will be the service provider for the province and that the company intends to implement Emergency Services IP-Enabled Networks (ESInets) at two data centres that are not located at existing PSAPs. Bell Canada is required to implement their services in such a way because the provincial government recently approved a strategic framework that will centralize and host technology to support PSAPs, according to the Part 1 application. “However, the province recognizes that Bell Canada interprets the policy… as only permitting Bell to deliver ESInet traffic to existing PSAPs. It is therefore critical that the commission issue a clarification as soon as possible,” Pelletier wrote in the application. The policy referred to in the application is the CRTC’s decision, released June 2017, that ILECs must be ready to switch over to an Internet protocol-based network to provide 911 voice service by the end of June 2020 and text-to-911 service by the end of December 2020, though that deadline was pushed back due to the pandemic. Tremblay said in his intervention that the New Brunswick RCMP its data would be at risk under the proposal from the province to add a privately-owned data centre as an extra layer, the intervention states. “Additionally, the proposed application may not align with the Privacy Act or the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat policies. For this reason, our Department of Security Branch (DSB) is not in a position to support such a request for the RCMP,” Tremblay said. “No other RCMP jurisdiction is utilising the framework as proposed in this application. Some RCMP Divisions have demonstrated that a hosted Call Handling system in a PSAP environment can be achieved while maintaining the necessary DSB cyber security standards and a high level of operational security for law enforcement,” he said. An intervention from 911 call handler E-Comm 911 states it is working with partners in British Columbia, including BC Emergency Health Services and the RCMP E Division, to develop such a shared NG911 Call Handling System (CHS) that could serve 15 or more PSAPs from a common, consolidated platform. E-Comm said this system would involve centralizing points of interconnection at two locations/data centres in the province, “with supplemental points of interconnection at some PSAP call handling locations for the purpose of resiliency and business continuity,” -- at least one of which would not be co-located with a PSAP call handling location. E-Comm said it supports the clarification request from New Brunswick, as “locating demarcation points at PSAP premises may have made sense under the existing E9-1-1 architecture... however we believe this is no longer the case.” It said that new IP-based NG911 networks mean there is an opportunity to “streamline and consolidate” points of interconnection, saying “we believe such consolidation will enable a more cost-effective and resilient service.” In preparing its own approach, E-Comm said it has consulted “extensively” with TELUS Corp. on its approach and has received no objection. “Moreover, Telus has indicated to us that they support a PSAP’s right to choose where its demarcation point is, so long as that demarcation point is somewhere within the territory of the ILEC which is acting as the NG9-1-1 service provider and so long as the backhaul network past the demarcation point is the full responsibility of the PSAP,” it said. Telus takes this stance in its own intervention to New Brunswick’s proposal, supporting the province’s application -- subject to certain conditions such as acknowledgement that 911 governing authorities are responsible for associated costs and responsibilities if selecting a demarcation point that is not a PSAP. “New Brunswick’s request on its face seems reasonable and the concept that 9-1-1 governing authorities should be afforded a choice when it comes to where its demarcation points are located is one that appears to TELUS to be self-evident,” the company said. In another intervention, the Comité 9-1-1 du SCFP-Québec said it might instead be more productive for the CRTC to hold an accelerated proceeding to determine which entities may be trusted to interconnect NG911 networks and therefore clarify which options are available -- a process it said the CRTC previously indicated should be taken on. Meanwhile, NL911 Bureau Inc. said in its own intervention that it supports New Brunswick’s application and that any clarification or decision made because of it should apply to Newfoundland and Labrador as well as it works on enhancing its own 911 services. - Reporting by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

Local RCMP raises security concerns over New Brunswick NG911 clarification application with the CRTC

News | July 13, 2021

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Local RCMP raises security concerns over New Brunswick NG911 clarification application with the CRTC

News | July 13, 2021

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