Toronto, ON
Ontarians should brace themselves for a significant increase in Amber Alert phone notifications.
Sylvia Jones, Minister of Community Safety & Correctional Services in the current PC government, confirmed to The Sentinel Dispatch on Monday afternoon that Premier Doug Ford had signed off on the idea.
"As Ontarians know, Mr. Ford and our government are for the people," said Jones. "But we also want to be known as being for the pets of this province."
Beginning in May of this year, every citizen with a smartphone can expect to hear an Amber Alert alarm whenever an animal within a 50 kilometer radius goes missing.
Not everyone will be happy with the significant increase in loud notifications on their phones.
"I've been annoyed when a meal or a TV program has been interrupted on two different occasions recently due to a child missing," said John Tenneson of Markham, Ontario. "I mean, I'm all for animal rights, but this is ridiculous. Anytime Buddy goes missing, what are we supposed to do...file a police report and then annoy millions of Ontarians?"
Ontario Provincial Police constable Devon Ronson predicts that the majority of Ontarians could receive a dozen or more alerts on their phone per day.
From Our Queen's Park Bureau