Province aims to revamp disaster planning
The province has introduced updates to the Emergency Management Act in hopes of creating a basic level of planning and disaster response across Alberta, government officials said Tuesday.
The changes will require towns and cities to develop and practise emergency response plans — something already happening in Medicine Hat.
As well, they would be provided a template for developing mass evacuation scenarios, which would then be localized — something some Cypress County residents have called for after wildfires hit last fall.
Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson told the legislature the updates — which will be discussed in sessions across the province this summer — are needed.
“In the past 10 years, Alberta has seen an increasing number of severe natural disasters, which brought significant impacts on personal lives and property,” Anderson told the legislature Tuesday as he introduced the bill that amends the Emergency Management Act.
“Unfortunately, we expect this trend to continue and we all need to be better prepared.”
Cypress County administrators say they have two emergency exercises planned for this summer.
County Councillor Michelle Mckenzie, who represents Hilda, welcomed the announcement and said there is still a lot of uneasiness in her area about how to better prepare for emergencies.
“There was a lot of confusion that day,” she said of Oct. 17 wildfires that destroyed several homes and burned thousands of acres of pasture and crop land.
Ministry and emergency operations officials told reporters changes stem from feedback gained after wildfires in Slave Lake and Fort McMurray, major flooding in 2013 as well as wildfires across prairies in late 2017.
County Reeve Richard Oster said Tuesday he would welcome help from the province to lead a discussion on public safety and also help guide smaller and rural municipalities toward best practices.
“Our staff does train and we practise our roles,” said Oster.
“We’d like the province to step up and help us with our procedures.
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel with every disaster ... and I’d like to know what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong.”
The changes seek to more clearly denote the responsibilities of the province and local administrators and elected officials.
It also asks for more regional collaboration when responding to large events, increase training requirements for elected officials and staff, and update and upgrade emergency plan requirements.
Much of that work in Medicine Hat and the greater region was begun prior to 2013 when the city, Cypress County and the town of Redcliff joined together for provincial funding to have a regional director of emergency management.
At that time, plans were developed for an array of emergency situations, such as flood, train wreck or chemical spill.
Since 2013, city crews have practised flood response, done inventories and updated plans each spring.
However, last fall’s wind-driven wildfires in northern portions of Cypress County raised questions about how emergencies are tackled in rural areas.
Provincial administrators called that response “very good” but complex geography, multiple jurisdictions responding and the rapid advancement of the fire made response difficult.
Bill 8 makes amendments that mainly only clarify existing regulations.
It also clarifies that first responders or city governments cannot be held liable if residents ignore an evacuation order.
That’s the case now, but officials say confusion exists. Citizens who do not evacuate can be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for one year, though officials say charges have never been laid in Alberta.
About 80 per cent of communities are already in compliance but some smaller communities have plans that are out of date or have no designated emergency official.
It would also tackle the issue of communications during an emergency. Over the next three to five years the province hopes to implement the first responders radio network to establish a single venue for work and fire crews, health and police to co-ordinate action.