A provincial review of emergency response legislation is ramping up pressure on local authorities to comment in a timely fashion.
Minister of State for Emergency Preparedness Naomi Yamamoto announced the online public consultation and engagement on updating the province's current Emergency Program Act (EPA) Monday, January 11, with the release of a discussion paper on proposed updates.
"It is a provincial act and yet it touches on what we do," said Ryan Thoms, manager of emergency services for the Powell River regional emergency program, which covers City of Powell River, Tla'amin Nation and Powell River Regional District.
EPA, introduced in 1993, is a key piece of legislation for emergency response in the province. It lays out roles and responsibilities for various provincial and local authorities and provides the government with the ability to declare states of emergency and invoke special powers to protect health, safety and property.
"We can see a lot of concerns, but also a lot of good things," said Thoms. "It's important for us to give that feedback."
The request for comment comes with a February 19 deadline, a short span of time for local governments to consider the implications of some of the changes proposed, Thoms told Powell River Regional District committee of the whole on Thursday, January 21.
"I haven't had enough time to go through it to give a proper recommendation, but there is certainly a lot of good and a lot of things that need to happen," said Thoms.
He noted in his presentation to regional district the updating of roles and responsibilities "is something we really need to watch."
Concerns have already been raised that the province may consider changes that would shift some of the financial burden to the shoulders of local governments. Thoms pointed out a discussion in the Henry Renteria's 2014 report on BC's earthquake preparedness identified the province's policy of 100 per cent reimbursement for emergency-response costs as being a "disincentive" for local government's to improve hazards mitigation.
"It sounds good in theory, but that might inadvertently lead to some very significant costs at the local government level that couldn't be passed on to the province," said Thoms.
Thoms also said proposed changes to the act could lead to significant discussions around civil liberties. A recommendation in the update is to allow police to use force to remove individuals from their homes when evacuation orders are delivered.
"Operationally, I see this very challenging, and on the civil liberties side, I see this as questionable," he said.
There has been a year-long dialogue on the Fire Services Act update, said Thoms.
"The province has a lot of pressure to look like it's making changes in terms of emergency and earthquake preparedness," he said. "That is a challenge."
Premier Christy Clark requested Yamamoto conduct the review and provide a report to cabinet on or before March 31, 2016.
"Best practices in the field of emergency management have evolved significantly over the past two decades, but the act has remained largely unchanged since its introduction and has never been the subject of a full and open review," stated Yakamoto in a media release. "The time has come for us to examine the act to ensure it provides the solid legal foundation we need here to meet whatever challenges may come, be they small scale emergencies contained at the local level or catastrophic events affecting a region or possibly the entire province."
Thoms has appeared before the city council and regional district committees of the whole to ask for elected officials thoughts on the legislative review. Thoms, who is chair of a Vancouver Island emergency coordinators committee, has already met with his colleagues to write the province a letter asking for the February 19 deadline to be extended. Thoms will return and present his report on the review to city committee of the whole on Tuesday, February 2, and regional district committee of the whole on Thursday, February 11.
More information on the review and the discussion paper can be found at bit.ly/23owODn.
