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History section
editThe History section of this article fails to mention the preceding work of the Task Force set up by the GVRD Regional Emergency Planning Committee and Regional Administrative Advisory Committee, and their consultants, performed during the period 1981 through 1987. That Task Force addressed "the options available to member municipalities requiring expansion and/or replacement of the municipal services' radio systems and the need for an inter-municipal emergency radio system.
A major problem identified was the inability of municipal police departments to access the RCMP radio system (lack of interoperability)
The Federal Department of Communications (DOC) became involved and actively promoted an 800-MHz wide-area trunked radio system, setting aside 60 channels for that purpose.
In 1987 the Task Force was presented with two reports completing the first phase of a feasibility study, which concluded that:
- "No one municipality is large enough ... to initiate a system on its own" (Vancouver City had already indicated it would not participate) - "RCMP also has the same territoty to cover and similar channel requirements ... (but) have not advanced to the point where they could discuss their participation" - an option to be considered would be the formation of a "public utility" company incorporated for the putpose, whose shares would be held by the GVRD and the municipalities and whose directors would be appointed by them.
Ultimately, faced with the non-participation of Vancouver City and the RCMP, the Task force settled for the implementation of a three-channel 400-MHz radio system, including portable radios, to provide communciation between municipal EOCs (Emergency Operations Centres) and between incident commanders and EOCs. The system was known as IMERS (Inter Municipal Emergency Radio System), and remained in operation for more than 20 years. If it had been used by Vancouver Police and the RCMP during the hockey riots the inter-operability communication problems reported might not have occured.
Only after the hockey riots did Vancouver City take the initiative and put up the money to establish E-Comm, with the support of RCMP abd BCAS.