There has been some discussion among residents that live in Wheatland County about upcoming changes in who will be handling their emergency dispatch for the County.
Wheatland County had been looking at options on providers of the emergency dispatch service. Wheatland County has used Wheatland and Adjacent Districts Emergency Medical Services Association for years but as of March 2026, they had put out a Request For Proposal for a possible provider. The proposals came in and Wheatland County has chosen the City of Calgary 911 dispatch as their new provider.
Residents have some concerns about both the choice of the new provider and the transparency on how the provider was chosen. Mark Lewandowski, a volunteer firefighter and resident of Rosebud shares those concerns. “I don’t know what the public knows about it. Certainly, we as firefighters, were aware that was happening. We were eagerly waiting to hear what the presentation was, what the details were going to be made, and if all the risks and concerns that we had would be raised to council. They ended up taking it ‘in camera’, so we really don’t know what was said.” Lewandowski noted that the Councillor for his area voted against the proposal.
Lewandowski notes that one of their concerns with having dispatch out of the city, the knowledge of the region may be limited. “Having dispatch in Strathmore, they certainly know the area. They know us. We’ve met them. We have a great deal of impact as we talk about what works with us as a fire department, what dispatch can do to support us, it is very much a team effort. We’re concerned that moving over to the City of Calgary, they won’t understand how urban firefighting is different than rural firefighting.” His issue is the lack of discussion with the fire department or with the public in regards to the concerns.
We reached out to Wheatland County about the changes and they provided a release of frequently asked questions about the changing of dispatch and the openness of the process.
In their release they share that “residents will continue to receive consistent and reliable fire dispatch services. Modern 9-1-1 systems, including GPS-based location technology and Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911), support accurate call location and efficient dispatching regardless of where a service provider is physically located. Service quality is based on systems, training, and operational standards, not geographic location.”
In regards to why the decision was made in a closed session, the County advises that “The closed session was done as the Request for Proposals (RFP) process involves confidential and commercially sensitive information. Under the Access to Information Act (AITA):
- Section 19 protects information that could be harmful to third-party business
interests if disclosed - Section 29 allows for discussions involving advice from officials
Holding this discussion in closed session respects the confidential and commercially sensitive information provided by all proponents. The submissions contain proprietary pricing, service models, operational details, and strategic approaches that could negatively impact a company’s business interests if disclosed publicly. This consideration applies equally to all submitting entities, including the current service provider, and helps ensure a fair, respectful, and defensible process.”
For Lewandowski and other firefighters, with it being “in camera”, Councillors cannot discuss anything that was discussed while the decision was made. “The issue is that it ‘went in camera’, so they (Councillors) are not allowed to say anything. I understand the county justifies to going ‘in camera’ to discuss, as they are discussing a contract. It seems really suspicious to us that something that has been contentious, and has been brought up as the association fire chiefs have raised concerns about this discussion, that no discussion was made in a public place.”
When it comes to transparency, Wheatland County shares “the County followed a competitive procurement process designed to ensure fairness, confidentiality where required, and objective evaluation of submissions.”
Wheatland County shares that the County is in the early stages of implementing this change. “Work is now focused on planning a smooth transition, with no interruption to fire dispatch services, for residents and emergency responders.”
-Excerpts from a release by Wheatland County-
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