Elected officials from around Vancouver Island discussed the future of emergency management at the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities convention.
A panel of five officials from municipalities, First Nations and the province spoke on the importance of updating the current Emergency Program Act during a session Friday, April 14, at NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
Ryan Wainwright, senior manager of Emergency Management Cowichan, said the act places control over emergency response preparedness and planning with local authorities.
B次元官网网址淵ou manage the emergency from as close to the emergency as possible,B次元官网网址� he said.
However, he suggested the current plan lacks language about mitigation, which he said is one of four facets of emergency management. He said an important part of emergency management is B次元官网网址渦nderstanding at the local government level, what and how intense the recovery period can be and how it can shift the entire identity of a community.B次元官网网址�
He went on to speak on the importance of relationships in the community during an emergency and identifying B次元官网网址渟omeone who will pick up the phone at 3 a.m.B次元官网网址� but said since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of those willing to volunteer are dropping.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a few communities who do very well, but most of us are struggling. Two years ago, the [Cowichan Valley Regional District] had maybe 100, 150 people that that were on a roll, now we have four,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭here are not enough resources for each local government to receive gold-star service from the province during an emergency. We need to know that our partners at First Nations, local governments, municipalities and regional district municipalities are being supported, have a little horsepower, so that we can have these conversations while things are quiet. That is not the case right now. WeB次元官网网址檙e expensive.B次元官网网址�
Corey Anderson, Emergency Management B.C.B次元官网网址檚 senior manager for Vancouver Island and the coastal region, talked about how the current act requires every community to have an emergency operations centre which B次元官网网址渢urned out to be quite siloed,B次元官网网址� and had B次元官网网址渁 lot of duplication of effort.B次元官网网址�
There are three parts that B次元官网网址渁nimate the spiritB次元官网网址� of the new legislation, according to Katie Olthuis, the policy and legislation director of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. She mentioned the , which provided more than 100 recommendations to the province for emergency preparedness, the 2018 adoption of the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction which she described as an B次元官网网址渁ll-of-society approach,B次元官网网址� and the adaptation of the UNB次元官网网址檚 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Although there are already multiple policies in place, the panel highlighted the importance of continued collaboration with Indigenous governing bodies.
B次元官网网址淭hese ideas about incorporating Indigenous peoples and the traditional knowledge to everything that we do is going to be key to having a better B.C.B次元官网网址�, said Travis Hall, Central Coast Regional District and Nuxalk Nation representative. B次元官网网址淏.C. is so diverse in terms of its geography, its climate, its altitude. Part of the province is desert, part of the province is ocean rainforest B次元官网网址� we all have different emergencies. The the fact that weB次元官网网址檙e now incorporating Indigenous knowledge to these processes will be key to developing a more fulsome emergency strategy procedure.B次元官网网址�
Mike Wilson, CVRD regional director for Cobble Hill, had concerns over funding for local authorities to implement new legislation, stating B次元官网网址渨eB次元官网网址檙e strapped.B次元官网网址� Olthuis, however, said funding support plans are still in progress and B次元官网网址渇eedback we received from local authorities has been and will continue to be shared to help ensure local authorities are supported and resourced to meet their emergency management obligations.B次元官网网址�
The legislation is expected to be in place this year, with regulations to come into effect over the next two years.
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