Two appointees, Liberal and chief, to review B.C. disaster response

Premier John Horgan has appointed a former Liberal cabinet minister and a hereditary First Nations chief to review how the province responded to the historic fire and flood season.

George Abbott, who served as a Liberal MLA from 1996 to 2013, and Skawahlook First Nation Chief Maureen Chapman will lead the independent review. Their report is due April 30, 2018.

“If ever there was a trial by fire for a new government, this season represents that,” Horgan said.

More than 65,000 people were displaced over the course of the wildfire season.

About 1.2 million hectares burned, which is almost 10 times the 10-year average for hectares burned in a fire season.

Horgan said the report, which focuses on emergency management systems, will be ready for the next fire season.

“I wouldn’t have asked these people, nor would they have accepted the job, if they thought this was going to be a report that gathered dust on a shelf somewhere in the parliamentary library,” Horgan said.

Abbott served as a cabinet minister for the B.C. Liberal government from 2001 to 2012. He also served for 17 years in local government, including as director and chair of the ColumbiaShuswap Regional District.

In 2015, the then-governing Liberals vetoed his appointment as chief treaty commissioner, as it tried to reform the treaty process, a move that was criticized by First Nations.

Chapman has participated in a number of committees with the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit and Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.

The last independent review of the province’s wildfire response occurred 14 years ago, in response to the 2003 Kelowna fires.

Horgan said it’s time to update the province’s emergency response protocol and some problems have already been identified.