The GNWT says they will not be taking part in the conducting of public alerting tests in Canada on May 5th.
A release from the federal government on Monday morning stated that all provincial and territorial emergency management organizations will conduct public alerting tests in Canada, except for Ontario, Quebec, Nova-Scotia and Nunavut.
The CRTC had the test alert for the NWT scheduled for 1:55 p.m.
A spokesperson for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, however, said due to the possibility of the need to issue alerts due to flooding in the coming days and weeks, they wish to avoid confusion in issuing a test alert at a time when there may be a need to issue an actual alert.
“In the event of a flood that potentially requires evacuation an alert may be sent via the NWT Alert system,” the email adds.
The spokesperson says based on the issuing of an alert last flood season, they have confidence in the effectiveness of the NWT Alert system and don’t feel a test is in the best interest of public safety at this time.
“Nationally the testing is still taking place as part of Emergency Preparedness week but the GNWT has made the decision not to conduct the test here due to these issues,” he added.
Test alerts are distributed on TV, radio and compatible mobile devices connected to an LTE wireless or 5G at the time the test alert is issued.
