TNRD board room (Photo via TNRD/Facebook)
The Thompson Nicola Regional District board of directors is voicing concerns in a letter to the province about its Emergency Disaster Management legislation, suggesting it appears tailored for municipalities, rather than regional districts.
The proposed legislation, pending royal assent, mandates a “modernized” four-phase emergency management approach for municipalities and regional districts, encompassing mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery.
Upon learning the details of the legislation at Thursday’s TNRD meeting, the board decided to write a letter to Premier David Eby and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bowinn Ma, requesting the establishment of two distinct local authority regulations under the new act to address the differing needs and responsibilities of municipalities and regional districts.
TNRD Community and Emergency Services Manager Kevin Skrepnek highlights concerns about the implementation of Bill 31, emphasizing its municipal focus.
“Even if we had the resources and wanted to do it, based on the local government act, we couldn’t. In terms of mitigation on Crown Land, even if we were handed the money to put in place a flood control structure or a dyke, it would still have to follow the normal service establishment process.”
Skrepnek also told the board about worries about staffing capacity and funding when it comes time to implement Bill 31.
“It will also be a challenge for First Nations, we have heard that from a number of our partners throughout the region for particularly smaller municipalities as well, the sheer amount of new requirements that are going to be placed on us are going to be incredibly demanding. How are we going to fund all of that?”
Skrepnek says among the numerous new responsibilities put onto local governments with the new act, include increased requirements for risk assessments and changes to business continuity plans.
“A lot of that I speculate, stems from COVID-19; not something we are opposed to but… Something we are finding with a lot of aspects of Bill 31 – our perception at least – is that the province is taking a lot of issues they have identified and are trying to solve it all with one piece of legislation instead of looking at it from a bigger picture.”
Included in the act is also an expanded list of responsibilities local governments under a state of local emergency, including security threats.
“From a regional district perspective, we are not quite clear how that will work given we have no role in law enforcement.”
Additionally, Skrepnek says they would also be in charge of putting restrictions on business and events in a state of local emergencies.
“Where I see this being potentially contentious is we could have some sort of major music festival occurring in an electoral area – in the middle of summer. We now, legislatively, could tell them it had to be canceled. So how are we going to approach that, how is that decision going to be made, how are we going to make that assessment.”
The third responsibility under local states of emergency is a focus on intersectionality, vulnerable populations, and animals.
“Up until now, commercial livestock had been specifically supported through the current legislation, this will broaden that so we would also be responsible for the evacuations of all animals, and again from a regional district perspective, that is a tall order in terms of how we deliver on that.”
The TNRD board are also sending their letter to regional districts across the province, encouraging them to join in sending similar letters.
