This is a test...

Background: Canada has a national emergency alert system called Alert Ready. It's a 21st century version of the old Emergency Broadcast System that used to interrupt your favorite TV shows. Except no one watches broadcast TV anymore, so an internet/mobile-enabled solution was called for.

It's been in service in Canada for a couple of years, and by and large it does the job. Except for the fact that every time it's used - either in a real emergency, or in a test as each province and territory did this week - social media lights up with complaints about the timing, the volume, the annoyance factor.

So I shared this on social media to hopefully add a little perspective:

Aaaand let the whining begin...

With all due respect to the whiners - and let's be clear, I have none - pray you never need this. And be thankful it’s there for those who do.