Reps with the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq will activate their alert system Tuesday.
Jennifer Jesty, the group’s emergency management coordinator, says it will allow chiefs and band councillors in each of the five Cape Breton First Nation communities- We’koqma’q, Potlotek, Eskasoni, Membertou, and Wagmatcook- to issue alerts to residents and band members.
Jesty tells The Hawk it’s been in the works for months- it isn’t a response to the week-long manhunt for a man charged with abducting a young Mi’kmaw girl recently.
“Absolutely not- and I want that to be made perfectly clear that, no, this has been in the works for several months now,” she says. “There’s nothing more important than communication during any event, so I decided we need to find a way to be able to communicate to all of our community members when there’s an event going on.”
Jesty says alerts can be issued to just one community, or across the entire island.
She says alerts aren’t just for emergencies- while they can be used for something as serious as a missing person, they can be also used to pass on important community-specific information.
“It’s not always throughout the entire island or affecting all five communities- sometimes there’s just a boil water order in one community,” she says. “That’s pretty important information for community members to know, and not everybody has social media.”
Jesty says community members can download and receive alerts through an app, or sign up to receive alerts by phone, email or text.
She says the chiefs can record messages in both English and Mi’kmaw.
