One unintended consequence of modern technology is 911 phone calls.
With today’s smart phones and little fingers, miscalls happen frequently according to the local RCMP.
Two of my younger relatives accidentally summoned the police in separate incidents. The two year old was playing with his mom’s phone when he hit the emergency number. The family had recently moved and the police went first to their former address, surprising the new occupants.
His older cousin was making a call and his fingers slipped hitting 911. The RCMP respond to all calls.
In Minnesota, two dogs left at home alone got playing with the phone and their paws kept dialing 911. It took the police a while to figure that one out.
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Many British Columbians won’t believe the NDP government can do anything right. I was therefore surprised to read Vaughn Palmer’s Feb. 21 column in the Vancouver Sun responding to charges that Finance Minister Carole James is wantonly spending the cash reserves created by the good management of the Liberals.
Palmer points out James thanked her predecessors for the funds, then he adds that if they had spent some of the reserves on social needs they’d probably still be government.
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Headlines in two newspapers reporting exactly the same story about the FEB approval of the TransMountain pipeline took different slants. The Vancouver Sun’s headline said “NEB gives Trans Mountain pipeline expansion its endorsement.” The National Observer said “Regulator’s Report unlikely to settle TransMountain pipeline expansion battle.”
The FED acknowledges the pipeline’s negative effects (endangering marine life, possible spills, increased greenhouse gases) and has 156 measures to minimize them, but says the economic benefits of the pipeline outweigh all that.
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The European Parliament has moved to ban single use plastic products, everything from plastic bags to drink stirrers, across Europe.
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.