E-Comm - History

History

Interest in consolidating emergency communications in southwest British Columbia began in the early 1990s following a series of large-scale disasters. The disorganized state of emergency communications during those incidents demonstrated that contemporary un-integrated communications services were not effective in dealing with large incidents, and required reform.

In spring of 1994, hockey fever captured British Columbia as the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the Stanley Cup finals. When they lost the seventh and final game of the series, huge crowds of fans took to the streets to lament the team's loss, and were quickly joined by troublemakers attracted to the large groups of people. The unhappy crowd soon erupted into a full-scale riot. The Vancouver Police were forced to call in the Crowd Control Unit and request back up from neighbouring Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detachments in an effort to disperse the out-of-control crowd. In the midst of the chaos, the Vancouver Police radio system was unable to handle the increased amount of radio traffic. Paramedics, firefighters and police found themselves in danger because their radio systems were not compatible with each other.

Following the riot, widely known as the Stanley Cup Riot, the provincial government began planning for an organization that would consolidate all emergency radio and phone services to allow information sharing between agencies and members. E-Comm was established under the Emergency Communications Corporations Act of 1997. As a cost-recovery business corporation, it is owned by stakeholders made up of all the agencies that use its service, which include municipalities, police boards, provincial and federal government agencies, and crown corporations.