First National Emergency Management Strategy Released During Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Meeting

  • Municipal Affairs and Environment

January 29, 2019

A recent Federal, Provincial and Territorial meeting of Ministers Responsible for Emergency Management in Edmonton saw the release of the first ever Emergency Management Strategy. Derrick Bragg, Parliamentary Secretary for Municipal Affairs and Environment represented the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador at the meeting where participants also discussed progress made on shared priorities in emergency management in Canada.

Ministers released the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada: Toward a Resilient 2030. The strategy is a roadmap to strengthen Canada’s ability to better prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. As a part implementation, ministers tasked senior officials responsible for emergency management to develop a federal, provincial and territorial action plan to outline how each jurisdiction, in collaboration with their respective emergency management partners, will advance each of the priority areas over the next five years, and to report back on progress at the next meeting.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada and Natural Resources Canada provided an update on their work on managing flood risk in Canada. Ministers invited the bureau to continue to work with them to finalize its analysis, including defining high risk properties and modelling the costs for different high risk insurance pool models.

Ministers also discussed the ongoing work with Natural Resources Canada regarding the development of an accessible public information tool that would help Canadians inform themselves of their personal flood risk. It was highlighted by the ministers that there is an interest in increasing information and data-sharing among all levels of government and the private sector. It was agreed that officials from Public Safety Canada and Natural Resources Canada would work together to jointly host a national symposium in the spring for officials to hear from private sector experts and academia, and discuss best practices related to flood mapping, data and science.

Ministers reiterated their commitment to build a strong public alerting system in Canada. They underscored the success of the second national public alerting test on November 28, and discussed the importance of continued testing to deliver an efficient, modern and life-saving system. Ministers also agreed to work collaboratively to strengthen the National Public Alerting System, including working with industry partners to improve governance of the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System, as well as public awareness and education.

The next call for nominations for the Emergency Management Exemplary Service Award was announced. The award recognizes recipients who have achieved excellence in the emergency management and search and rescue fields.

Quotes
“I was pleased to participate in the meeting, given the increasing importance on strengthening Newfoundland and Labrador’s emergency management capacity. By collaborating with our federal, provincial and territorial partners, we will continue to ensure appropriate assistance and services are available to residents to address emergency events.”
Derrick Bragg
Parliamentary Secretary for Municipal Affairs and Environment

“My colleagues and I are pleased to release the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada. This first-ever shared FPT vision for strong, resilient Canadian communities calls for strengthened collaboration among all partners in emergency management – all orders of governments, civil society and Indigenous communities. Together, by 2030 we will build a Canada that is better equipped to predict, prepare for, respond to, and recover from all hazards.”
Honourable Ralph Goodale
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

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Media contacts
Lynn Robinson
Municipal Affairs and Environment
709-729-5449, 691-9466
lynnrobinson@gov.nl.ca

Scott Bardsley
Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
613-991-2924
scott.bardsley@canada.ca

2019 01 29 3:45 pm