Disaster mitigation needs funding
Provincial and federal governments agree it matters, but both stop short of major changes
The B.C. and federal governments agree more needs to be done to prepare the province for increasingly frequent and severe flooding and wildfires caused by climate change.
But they have stopped short of committing to significant changes that could address issues identified in a recent Postmedia investigative series.
“We recognize we have to do more,” said B.C. Forests Minister Katrine Conroy, lauding the Postmedia investigative series that found government efforts have fallen short of what is needed to properly protect communities.
“I want to thank you for the work you're doing on the articles. I've read them,” said Conroy.
However, Conroy did not point to anything specific the province would do differently.
She noted the provincial government has committed to spend $2.1 billion over four years to recover from extreme floods and wildfires in 2021 that caused the evacuation of 46,000 people and destroyed homes, roads and bridges.
Most of that money is earmarked for response costs and human aid, helping individuals and communities restore buildings and infrastructure, and increased government operations spending.
It is not targeted at building climate-resilient infrastructure such as upgrading B.C.'s more than 1,100 kilometres of dikes or building new flood protection measures. Money earmarked for wildfire prevention would barely make a dent in the 11,000 square kilometres of forested land in and around communities the province has identified as needing thinning to reduce wildfire fuel.
Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, who visited Lytton and Vancouver last week, declined an interview with Postmedia to discuss the need to harden communities to increasing flooding and wildfires.
At a press conference Friday, Blair and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson highlighted the existing federal commitments, including $516 million for wildfire response, money already announced as part of the 2022 budget, as well as $8.4 million for emergency planning and response through the First Nations Emergency Services Society.
Blair said the federal government is advancing $416 million to rebuild homes lost in the 2021 fires, including Lytton, in response to a provincial request for disaster financial assistance.
When asked by a Postmedia reporter about funding to prevent future disasters, Blair admitted much of the money is designated for recovery, but there's a “growing realization” prevention, mitigation and adaptation must be part of discussions.
“The work of rebuilding (a) community has to be informed by making sure that in the future we mitigate the circumstances that led to that terrible tragedy,” he said.
Postmedia's four-month investigation found the cost of increased flood and wildfire protection was at least $13 billion. The cost is certainly much higher as only a third of 75 communities examined had a detailed, costed flood protection plan and analysis does not cover the entire province.
In Abbotsford alone, an updated flood protection plan could be as much as $2.8 billion. The costs to reduce wildfire risk could be as much as $6 billion, Postmedia found.
Asked if the province needs a flood and wildfire protection plan with targets, costs and timelines — and for the province to take responsibility for setting priorities — Conroy pointed to a flood strategy the province is working on and said First Nations and municipalities don't want to be dictated to by higher levels of government.
Asked whether the province will create a dedicated stream of funding from a portion of the carbon tax as requested by communities so they can have certainty in building up climate resiliency, Conroy said local government financing is being reviewed.
The carbon tax is expected to raise $2.3 billion this year.
Some experts have suggested the province needs a “quarterback,” possibly a senior civil servant, to steer a climate resiliency plan and provide public progress reports. But Conroy said she and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth are managing that work.
Blair said he recognized that local governments cannot afford the high cost of mitigation.
“Both the federal and provincial governments have acknowledged that reality, and we're all working very collaboratively together, looking at where we can make investments — and it's not just about building the dikes higher — but making sure that we make really well-informed investments in those communities to mitigate the impact of both flood and fire risk.”
Jackie Tegart, the B.C. Liberal MLA for Fraser-Nicola, says she is in favour of the province putting together an overarching plan with targets and timelines, one that sets priorities and where progress is reported publicly.
She noted that billions of dollars have been spent responding to floods and wildfires, and that spending needs to be flipped to preparation and prevention.
“We need to spend that kind of money on the mitigation and the risk management of these kinds of events,” said Tegart, whose riding includes Lytton, destroyed by fire last summer, and Merritt, which had to be evacuated because of flooding in November.
“Government needs to do a plan. We need to have some sense of where we're at as a province and some sense of what the dollar commitment needs to be,” she said.
Richard Cannings, the federal NDP MP for South Okanagan-West Kootenay, said he's been speaking to Blair about the need to spend more on adaptation “ahead of disasters,” not just in response.
“Up until now, the federal government has been very reactive,” he said. “I'm trying to get the government to work with communities before disasters happen.”
Cannings said it would make better financial sense for the federal government to spend on mitigation, but it's difficult to encourage politicians to spend money for “an unknown event in the future,” although “it's the right thing to do.”
The Conservative MP for Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon, Brad Vis, said big disasters are beyond the capacity of many small towns to address or prevent. Many are unable to pay their portion of any cost-sharing agreements with higher levels of government for recovery or mitigation.
He said the federal government needs to make it easier for First Nations to get critical emergency equipment without an onerous application process.
But Vis largely blamed the provincial government for failing to ensure B.C. is prepared for future disasters.