New emergency act unrealistic, onerous, will take years to meet criteria: PRRD

The provincial government has given the Peace River Regional District just three months to provide comment on two proposed regulations set out in the new Emergency and Disaster Management Act. The Act was given second reading in the BC Legislature on October 4. Given the size of the Regional District, 120,000 square kms, and the number of municipalities and First Nations which call the PRRD home, this is an impossible task, board members said.

Area C Director Brad Sperling, who served on the UBCM’s Provincial Flood and Wildfire Committee for three years, was most vocal about the timeline.

The Peace River Regional District covers 120,000 square kms

“They’re asking for comment when our member municipalities and area directors haven’t even looked at it, haven’t had time to look at it,” said Sperling. “Have our staff talked to the member ESS teams?”

The first regulation will allow the province to create rules around the following; the preparation of emergency management plans; the requirements for a “local authority” to consult and coordinate with other local authorities, including indigenous governing bodies; establishment and operation of single and multi-jurisdictional emergency management organizations; define types of actions the Minister may be permitted to order a local authority to take; specify prohibitions, requirements, limits and conditions that would apply to local governments that wish to exercise response or recovery powers; and specify requirements of public reporting that must be made by local governments following the cancellation of a state of local emergency.

The second regulation deals with financial assistance after emergencies. Reforms being considered include clarifying event eligibility; the availability of insurance; modernizing program coverage; meeting the needs of Indigenous applicants; building forward for resilience; and maximizing alignment and flexibility.

Shawn Dahlen, PRRD Chief Administrative Officer said that his understanding of the legislation is that the PRRD, which covers 120,000 square kms, and consists of four electoral areas, should have a plan for every anticipated scenario within each one of those electoral areas, as well as the region as a whole.

“It seems pretty unrealistic for the most part. The resourcing, the dollars, the capacity, the opportunity to even hire that capacity or resourcing is unrealistic, especially for a region of our size,” he said. “I definitely have concerns that we won’t be able to fulfil what is requested of us as a regional district.”

“There seems to be a minute amount of information, and a very broad scope to put on local government," said Area B Director Jordan Kealy. “It’s so broad and such a limited time to give feedback, I don’t think this is appropriate at all for the scope that it covers, and the powers that it can designate.”

Sperling said that the legislation also requires any agreements or partnerships the Regional District makes to be reviewed annually. “Can you imagine the manpower that would take? Where’s the resources? We need more time, more definitions.”

Kealy noted that in an emergency situation, you want things to run as smoothly as possible, but this legislation is complicating the process.

Area E Director Dan Rose, agreed. “It’s pretty important to get this right, and this (legislation) doesn’t lead to that. It's a bunch of bureaucracy that leaves the locals out of it.”

“We need to understand what their expectations are and how to fund it,” Rose added.

“We’ve definitely seen some emergencies this year, and things that could be improved with how things were handled like communication between the PRRD, BC Wildfire and the province,” said Kealy. “But right at the beginning of this, under the regulations it says for local authorities, it wants to incorporate the principles of the Sendai Framework. Why the heck are we incorporating UN framework for this region? Why aren’t we working with what we have and improving those instead of doing a whole new framework?”

The directors were also concerned about the impact these regulations will have on First Nations in the Regional District. Although the nations communicated with the PRRD during the wildfires, they did their own thing regarding evacuations, much as Fort St. John and Tumbler Ridge did.

“Have the First Nations in our area seen this and been consulted on it?” asked Kealy. “That’s definitely important for what happens in this region.”

Board Chair Leonard Hiebert said that this is the sort of feedback he thinks the government is looking for. “I think that’s what we should give them.”

The question is, how long will it take the member municipalities and First Nations to look at the regulations, talk to their people and provide feedback? Plus coming back to collaborate with the Regional Board and provide a collective response to the province.

“I think the government just wants to jam it down and not get any comments because no one has the time or resources to respond,” said Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka.

Fort St. John Director Tony Zabinsky echoed Krakowka’s concern. “I think the government is going to move forward with this, and I’d like to write a letter to them saying we want more time.”

Sperling said that he believes the government’s plan is to give third reading to the legislation shortly after the New Year.

Given the number of individual emergency plans that would need to be created throughout the regional district for every possible disaster, the extensive consultation with member municipalities and First Nations, then approval of the plans by government and First Nations the whole process would be significantly onerous, said Dahlen.

“When we’re this large and this vast a regional district, it looks like years and years of work,” he said.

The Board took Zabinsky’s suggestion and unanimously resolved:

That the Regional Board send a letter to the Minister, Premier and all 27 Regional Districts include Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, our MLAs, the 7 First Nations requesting more time to comment and request them to supply the funding required for the capacity and resourcing required to complete this work.

Later in the meeting, the Board also resolved to allocate the $2,383,000 in the Growing Communities Fund to the Emergency Preparedness requirements.

“The province isn’t going to put any money out right now. It’s going to be done through their budget, so I doubt if we’re going to see any of that until March,” said Sperling. “I’m sure there will be grants, but we never get what it’s going to cost to do the whole project.”

The cost of implementing the new emergency legislation is of course not known yet, but Sperling thinks that if the Board could earmark some funds, it would at least get them started.

“If we don’t get enough money coming from the province, where’s it going to come from? It’s going to come from our taxpayers. We’re going to have to do this work, without a doubt.”