Transcript Improving Disaster Resiliency in Canada

Ian Becking
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My background
What I am talking about today
Disaster Management in Canada
What is resilience?
Key Lessons from the last 25 years
◦ Concerning People
◦ Concerning Process and Policy
◦ Concerning Technology
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Concluding thoughts
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1983 to 2014 Canadian Army full and
part time – retired as Lieutenant Colonel
◦ 2008-2009 served in Afghanistan
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1990 to 2008 – Canadian Government
◦ Agriculture Canada – Training and Exercise
Officer
◦ Emergency Preparedness – Operations Officer
◦ Public Safety Canada – Manager
Geomatics/Director Operations
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2009 to 2013 – Emergency Management
Consultant
2013 to present – Managing Emergency
Exercise program for Government of
Canada
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This is based on my experience
These are my views
This is not the Government of Canada`s
policy or position.
Hopefully this will show that progress has
been made in Canada but there are still
important lessons to be learned by Taiwan.
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Individuals have a responsibility
◦ Often need assistance
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Municipalities (Cities, townships) respond
next (fire/rescue, ambulance and police)
Adjacent cities respond as requested
Provinces support when municipal resources
exhausted
Federal government responds at the request
of the province and support...unless
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The emergency is mandate for a federal
response (foreign animal disease for
example)
The military can support at the request of the
provinces
The majority of emergencies are dealt with at
the municipal level with a smaller percentage
getting support from the provinces.
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A lot of discussion and research is dealing
with the topic of resilience
Some governments are still trying to
determine what exactly it is
UN definition is good:
The ability of a system, community or society exposed to
hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from
the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner,
including through the preservation and restoration of its
essential basic structures and functions.
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A resilient community will get back on its feet
faster
Can be better economically
Less requirement for government intervention
Allows the focus of the response to shift to
vulnerable populations
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Decisions by elected policy makers to divert
resources from those uses to the relief of
harm from uncertain future threats can be
seen as wasteful. In contrast, once a disaster
occurs, officials are rewarded for responding
quickly to the relief of victims.
Budgeting for Disasters: Focusing on the Good Times by Marvin Phaup and Charlotte Kirschner OECD
Journal on Budgeting Volume 2010/1
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While governments would LIKE to devote
money prior to the event, the policy benefits
may be hard to realize
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Difference between lesson learned and
lessons “collected”
Lessons are learned when behaviour is
changed either through training, legislation
and enforcement or a change in policy
Collecting lessons into great databases is no
longer acceptable
Making the same mistakes over and over is
no longer acceptable
 People;
 Process
(or governance); and
 Technology
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key lessons in the three
categories will be discussed that
ultimately lead to improved
resiliency.
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Everything starts with people
From Municipal first responders to provincial
and federal officials – they all need to train
and to practice together
People need to be trained, individually and
collectively (through exercise programs)
Elected officials need to be involved
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Vancouver Olympics Exercise program
◦ Brought three levels of government in a progressive
inclusive exercise program
◦ All hazards not just a security exercise program
◦ Dealt with the response to natural and human
induced emergencies.
◦ 1st national exercise program since late 1990s
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Canada used to have a Canadian Emergency
Preparedness College – closed for a variety of
reasons and training devolved to provinces
Demand for training taken up by Community
Colleges
Public Safety working to develop a national
standard and a common capability set
Particularly important for large scale events
where support from neighbours is requested
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Trained people need to operate in a defined
well understood process that supports and
enables the response – not hinders it
A particular challenge the further removed
from the incident scene you are.
The Canadian military is moving away from
rigid hierarchical, monolithic organizations –
yet EM is still very structured and hierarchical.
Social technologies and public expectations
will challenge this rigid system
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Establishment of the Government Operations
Centre – 2003 to 2005
◦ Role is to provide strategic level coordination
and direction on behalf of the Government of
Canada in response to an emerging or occurring
incident affecting the national interest.
◦ Central element of a revised federal approach to
managing emergencies and rationalizing a
complex system
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The Federal governments all-hazards
response plan.
Guides a comprehensive and harmonized
federal response to emergencies that require
an integrated Government of Canada
approach.
In conjunction with the response efforts of
provinces/territories, non-governmental
organizations, the private sector, and
international partners.
Based on the tenets of the Incident Command
System.
Prime Minister
Premier
Cabinet Committee
(Operations)
Direction
and Guidance
Strategic
Coordination
Operational/
Tactical
Coordination
Other Federal
Operations Centres
Private Sectors
& NGOs
International
Partners
Provincial Ministers
DM Committee
Provincial DM
ADM Public Safety /Operations
Committee
Provincial ADM
Government
Operations Centre
(GOC)
Federal
Coordination Group
Provincial Emergency
Operations Centre
Federal Regional
Offices/Resources
Municipal Emergency
Operations Centre
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The Canadian Centre for Security Sciences
Partnership between Public Safety and
Defence Research and Development Canada
(DRDC)
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CSS’s Role is to employ Science and
technology(S&T) as a strategic enabler
for federal government’s public safety
and security agenda by focusing on
outcomes based investment in
technology supporting public safety
across Canada
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Improved research
◦ Measurement of exercises and training
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Targeted investment based on research
◦ Social Media and Emergency Management Exercise
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Support to key technologies
◦ Multi-Agency Situational Awareness System (MASAS)
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Learn lessons don’t merely collect them;
Incorporate these lessons into a training
system that is nationally standardized;
Ensure that a well designed national
governance model for emergency response is
understood and tested
Appropriate development of technology that
is relevant and useful for emergency
responders
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Questions?