« Canada 511 »
Friday, October 20, 2006 at 07:13AM Sunny skies, open highways
5-1-1
The CRTC has assigned the 5-1-1 access code for the provision of weather and traveller information services, on the condition that the services remain free of charge.
I don't think that much of the Canadian public is aware of the new 511 service that the Canadian Federal government is going to launch in the next 8 months. Unless you are someone who is in the know about the current National Weather Services Advisory Service - where you call a local number, and receive a recording of the current weather status and road conditions for your area, you may well not even think about 511. Most of you probably already check online for the weather forecast, or the road conditions, or if you should pack a sweater for Rimouski.
The lack of a federal evironmental policy may be pushing this initiative faster and farther than merit and public interest warrant. The new 511 service was proposed by a consortium of different groups, but was spearheaded by Environment Canada. The CRTC has mandated that the service be free. FREE. $35 Million (likely) to be spent on a duplicated service that Canadians don't really know anything about, and may not want.
Just another day in the life for the Governments in Canada. Maybe they can add an option to the 511 service so you could rat out web sites that are advertising gambling.
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