By Canadian Press

B.C. to update emergency program law to improve disaster responses, supports

Oct 28, 2019 | 1:55 PM

VICTORIA — Devastating wildfires and floods and the prospect of more to come has caused the B.C. government to look at updating its emergency management law.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says the Emergency Program Act needs modernization after lessons learned from recent floods in Grand Forks and successive record-setting wildfire seasons in the province’s Interior.

The act is B.C.’s primary law governing disaster risk management and outlines the roles and responsibilities for provincial and local governments in preparing, responding and recovering from emergencies.

It also includes the conditions under which governments can declare a state of emergency.

Farnworth says individuals and organizations have until the end of this January to respond to a government discussion paper outlining proposed changes to the law, which are slated for introduction to the legislature next fall.

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He says the discussion paper outlines legislative changes that include all stages of emergency management from preparedness to recovery and reflect a shift from disaster response to reducing risk.

B.C. experienced record damage levels in the 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons, when millions of hectares of land were destroyed and homes were evacuated affecting thousands of people.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2019.

The Canadian Press