Houston asks Nova Scotians to step up
Premier Tim Houston is looking for Nova Scotians to step up during natural disasters by signing on with a new emergency volunteer group, the Nova Scotia Guard.
He announced the group Thursday, along with a move to make the Emergency Management
Office a full government department, to be known as the Department of Emergency Management.
“As we’ve seen time and again, whenever an emergency happens, the first thing Nova Scotians do is step up and help their neighbours,” Premier Houston said Thursday.
“That’s the Bluenoser way.” The Nova Scotia Guard will fall under the new department, overseen by John Lohr, who is already in charge of EMO.
The premier said the Nova Scotia Guard will include volunteers with a variety of skills from all walks of life.
That could range from snow shovellers to those who can drive a fire truck.
The premier said the idea was months in the making and came about after the province was hit by a series of serious floods and fires in the past year.
Houston says the reorganization will allow the province to respond more efficiently to climate-related emergencies such as wildfires and flooding. The new department is expected to be established in the fall, following consultations with municipalities and community organizations.
“We will leverage every opportunity we have through the existing network of NGOS through the existing network of first responders across the province,” he said at a news conference.
“There is a role for every Nova Scotian. … My mum could be a member of the Nova Scotia Guard. She has lots of skills that could be useful in the time of an emergency.”
The premier said the new group wouldn’t cost much, beyond training and per diems.
“This is money already being spent. We can spend it more efficiently.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender called the bill concerning.
“We can’t recruit for professional search and rescue positions that we have now. Every organization, whether it’s search and rescue, Red Cross or the local community hall, they’re having a harder and harder time attracting volunteers.
She said it makes sense to centralize emergency response under one department, but the Guard name is “weird.”
“I think this feels like a PR stunt.”
Especially so, given that the government abandoned a promise to deliver coastal protection legislation.
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said we already rely heavily on volunteers.
“We have volunteers from rural Nova Scotia that are pushed to the limit already.”
Better co-ordination will help, he said, but there needs to be more money for ground search and rescue and volunteer fire departments and work to be done getting people in and out of neighbourhoods in the event of wildfires.