Third Session, Thirty-sixth Parliament
SELECT STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
FOURTH REPORT
Earthquake Preparedness; Performance Audit
(continued)
Auditor General Report on Earthquake Preparedness, Strategic Recommendations:
- The provincial government should develop long-term goals for earthquake preparedness:
"Achieving an adequate state of preparedness for an earthquake is a long-term endeavour; the provincial government should have a clear sense of where it would like the Province to be in its earthquake preparedness state after the next 5, 10 and 15 years have elapsed, and even longer. We believe the provincial government needs to establish specific and measurable long-term goals on which to focus its earthquake preparedness activities. To be of practical value, these goals should be established in the areas of mitigation, planning for response, and recovery. For each of these goals, substantive and measurable objectives must also be set."
- The provincial government should provide more focus to its earthquake preparedness program:
"The earthquake preparedness program should provide an integrated and cohesive approach to earthquake preparedness that supersedes the assignment of specific jurisdictional responsibilities…We believe that the provincial government needs to clarify the scope of its earthquake preparedness program if it is to reach the long-term goals for earthquake preparedness we have recommended be set…We believe that the earthquake program should continue to be under the direction and control of PEP, which would be responsible for its proper design and implementation, and be accountable for its results."
As these recommendations encompass a broad spectrum of issues considered elsewhere in this report, there will not be an in-depth discussion of them here. However, the committee does note that an Earthquake Symposium was held at Dunsmuir Lodge in Sidney on November 27th and 28th, 1998, sponsored by the Provincial Emergency Program, and facilitated by the Disaster Preparedness Resource Centre of UBC. Funding assistance was provided by Emergency Preparedness Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. In attendance at this symposium were representatives from federal, provincial and local governments, as well as business and industry. Several recommendations were formulated by working groups at the symposium, and have been used by the Provincial Emergency Program to develop a British Columbia Earthquake Strategy Outline. That outline seeks to address 5 main goals: increasing earthquake awareness and education, improving emergency response and recovery, improving the seismic safety of public and private buildings and infrastructure, improving essential geoscience information and assessing earthquake risk and vulnerability. The committee notes that many of the goals addressed in the strategy outline echo recommendations made by the Auditor General in his 1997 Report on Earthquake Preparedness.
Recommendation #4:
4.1 Your committee endorses the Auditor General’s recommendations that the provincial government set long-term goals and provide more focus to its earthquake preparedness program, and encourages the provincial government to continue its efforts in this regard.
4.2 Your committee recommends that the Provincial Emergency Program finalize its B.C. Earthquake Strategy by March 31, 2000, and provide public access to the strategy by making it available on the Internet.
Auditor General Report on Earthquake Preparedness, Strategic Recommendations:
- The provincial government should reposition the Provincial Emergency Program:
"In view of PEP’s difficulty in providing effective leadership for earthquake planning, we believe that the repositioning of the agency is a matter requiring the government’s immediate attention. Dealing with this matter now rather than later will also be seen as a clear statement of the importance that government attaches to earthquake preparedness, and of its commitment to improving that preparedness."
- The provincial government should increase funding for the Provincial Emergency Program:
"Many of the recommendations that we have made call for a more active role for PEP. The provincial government should provide PEP with sufficient resources to meet the government’s expectations for corrective actions. Specifically, we believe that resources should be made available to PEP to allow it to recruit the sort of expertise necessary to carry out the functions we have identified in recommendation 3. We also believe that PEP should be provided additional resources to allow it to work more closely with local governments."
- The Provincial Emergency Program should report annually on the state of earthquake preparedness in British Columbia:
"…The report, to be completed within 90 days of the end of each fiscal year, should be from PEP to the Attorney General, who in turn should table it in the Legislative Assembly. The report should include:
- an assessment of the overall state of earthquake preparedness of the Province;
- the status of recommendations made by the Seismic Safety Commission;
- a report on the plans and achievements of the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council; and
- accountability information regarding PEP’s own performance in relation to its annual objectives."
REPOSITIONING THE PROVINCIAL EMERGENCY PROGRAM
Currently, the Provincial Emergency Program is part of the Public Safety and Regulatory Branch of the Ministry of the Attorney General.
Representatives of the Provincial Emergency Program voiced their opposition to the Auditor General’s recommendation that the program be repositioned, and wished to emphasize that the program’s position must be considered in conjunction with all of its responsibilities, not just earthquake preparedness. They advised committee members that the PEP has undertaken many initiatives to ensure better coordination of a provincial strategy, long-term goals and more focus to the earthquake preparedness program. In addition, they informed the committee that staff has been added to the program’s planning unit.
PEP's positioning in government must be considered in conjunction with all of the program's responsibilities and not be solely based on earthquake preparedness. The public safety and regulatory branch of the Attorney General ministry contains other programs that PEP liaises with on a routine basis…we feel that PEP is placed properly in the public safety and regulatory branch of the Ministry of Attorney General. Stephen Stackhouse, Ministry of Attorney General, Hansard (43:679)
However, a former trainer with the Provincial Emergency Program recommended in his submissions to the committee that the program be repositioned and made part of the Premier’s Office, in order to give it more effectiveness. In this regard, your committee notes that in California, the Office of Emergency Services (the "OES"), which has earthquake preparedness and response responsibilities, is part of the state governor’s executive office. In a presentation made by the OES to members of this committee between August 3 and 7, 1998, OES representatives emphasized the advantages of being positioned in the governor’s office, which gives the OES the opportunity to call upon all resources of the state government in supporting response to a major disaster.
ANNUAL REPORTING
With respect to the Auditor General’s recommendation regarding annual reporting on the state of earthquake preparedness in British Columbia, representatives of the Provincial Emergency Program advised committee members that a Deputy Ministers’ Emergency Preparedness Committee has been formed, and that the PEP will provide an annual report to the committee on the status of earthquake preparedness in British Columbia. The committee will also provide overall direction to the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council.
One witness felt that the annual reporting requirement should be expanded to require that Emergency Preparedness Canada report on the preparedness of all federal departments and agencies doing business within British Columbia. Another recommended that the Provincial Emergency Program be required to prepare an annual all-hazards report, to be tabled in the House for review. In particular, one witness noted the absence of a plan specifically addressing the indirect effects of earthquakes, such as tsunamis and slides. However, the committee does note that the Provincial Emergency Program has a Tsunami Warning System in place, and is a member of the Western States Seismic Council, which has a Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Committee.
FUNDING FOR THE PROVINCIAL EMERGENCY PROGRAM
The committee heard that the budgets for the Provincial Emergency Program for the last five fiscal years have been as follows
As well, the PEP has seen its staff increase from 38.5 full-time employees in the 1994/95 fiscal year to 43 in 1998/99.
No submissions were made to the committee which specifically addressed the issue of funding for the Provincial Emergency Program.
Recommendation #5:
5.1 Your committee endorses the recommendation of the Auditor General regarding repositioning and increasing funding for the Provincial Emergency Program, and encourages the provincial government to consider repositioning the PEP within the Premier’s Office in order to raise its profile and increase its effectiveness.
5.2 Your committee acknowledges the PEP’s efforts to provide an annual report to the Deputy Ministers Emergency Preparedness Committee, and endorses the Auditor General’s recommendation that the PEP be required to report annually on the state of earthquake preparedness in British Columbia. Your committee recommends that the annual report by the PEP include, but not be limited to, a discussion of the following topics:
- The progress of earthquake planning and preparedness in provincial ministries and Crown corporations;
- Federal-provincial coordination of earthquake planning and preparedness measures;
- The work and progress of Treasury Board (Capital Division) with respect to seismic upgrading of provincial infrastructure.
Auditor General Report on Earthquake Preparedness, Strategic Recommendation:
- The provincial government should raise the profile of the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council.
"Deputy ministers and Crown corporations chief executives should take steps to increase the profile and effectiveness of the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council. First, they should ensure that their representatives to the Council are empowered to commit their organization to supporting and acting on Council initiatives. Second, they should, through their own councils, monitor the operations of the Council and make sure that any lack of participation or consensus is not allowed to impede its work."
The Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council was created by Section 5 of the Emergency Program Management Regulation, B.C. Reg. 477/94, pursuant to the Emergency Program Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 111. It is composed of representatives from each provincial ministry and Crown corporation with emergency response coordination responsibilities under the Regulation. The council recommends emergency preparedness, response and recovery measures to each minister, and provides assistance to ensure that those ministers’ emergency plans and procedures are coordinated and consistent with other ministries’ plans, and with the provincial government’s general emergency preparedness strategies.
Stephen Stackhouse of the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Public Safety and Regulatory Branch informed your committee that, in response to this recommendation, a Deputy Ministers’ Committee on emergency preparedness has been formed to provide overall direction to the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council, as discussed above.
As well, the Council has developed a "Strategic Activities Plan" for the fiscal year 1998/1999, which includes an intention to implement the Auditor General’s recommendations. The plan also addresses the Council’s intentions to expand the activities of the IEPC, to educate senior executives within the provincial government, to involve more member agencies, and to amalgamate the complete emergency management strategy into a single document.
A representative of the Canadian Red Cross Society also suggested to committee members that the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council might be more effective if it worked closely with the newly-established "Over B.C.", an organization coordinating non-governmental organizations’ efforts following a disaster. The witness felt that such cooperation would ensure better coordination of governmental and non-governmental re-entry and recovery assistance programs.
There were no other submissions presented to the committee with respect to the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council.
Recommendation #6:
6.1 Your committee endorses the Auditor General’s recommendation that the profile of the Inter-Agency Emergency Preparedness Council be raised, acknowledges development by the IEPC of a "Strategic Activities Plan" to address this recommendation, and encourages the provincial government to continue to take steps to ensure that the Auditor General’s recommendation is implemented.
6.2 Your committee recommends that the IEPC work with non-government emergency response organizations to achieve better coordination of response efforts.
Auditor General Report on Earthquake Preparedness, Strategic Recommendation:
- The provincial government should strengthen regional emergency planning and coordination.
"The provincial government should establish a framework that requires regional planning and coordination to occur, and should specify the results to be obtained. As well, the government’s role and interest in regional planning and coordination should be formalized through amendments to legislation, allowing the minister to intervene in certain circumstances. This is not a new concept for the provincial government: in another piece of community-focused legislation – the British Columbia Growth Strategies Act – it has clearly indicated its willingness to intervene for the public good in cases where consensus cannot be found. An alternative approach is to define the minister’s role through prior agreement with all parties."
The audit had revealed that nearly 20% of local governments responding to a survey by the Auditor General had no earthquake response plan in their jurisdiction, and the plans that did exist varied greatly in terms of content and format.
Witnesses from the Corporation of Delta suggested that the provincial government, in considering mandated regional emergency planning, must consider jurisdictional issues, duplication of already-existing local government programs, resources and ability to pay.
| "To date, the PEP has had little tangible to offer municipalities in the lower mainland, as it has not been adequately directed politically, adequately funded or adequately resourced. Moreover, much of the responsibility for delivering emergency management in British Columbia has been devolved - some would say downloaded - to the municipal level of government…Given this reality, it would seem that an important emphasis in ensuring implementation of the auditor general's recommendations must be to foster an atmosphere of partnership between the provincial and local levels of government and to not repeat the type of service delivery unsuccessful in the past." |
These witnesses urged the provincial government, in strengthening regional emergency planning and developing systems standards, protocols and guidelines, to avoid heavy-handed manipulation. They submitted that the provincial government should instead provide a cooperative forum to assist local governments in carrying out emergency management responsibilities delegated to them under the Emergency Program Act and the local authority emergency management regulation. Specifically, they suggested that a funding formula be established to replace the cost-sharing program, so that provincial government can influence local governments to address emergency management issues. They also advised committee members that alternative funding partnerships (such as the provincial government becoming a funding partner in the joint emergency preparedness program funding initiative offered by the federal government), tax incentives and cost-sharing initiatives would serve to enhance local government participation in earthquake mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Finally, these witnesses suggested that staff and expertise in provincial government agencies be increased to ensure that there are adequate resources available to provide technical assistance to local governments.
On the other hand, a former trainer with the Provincial Emergency Program urged the provincial government to take strong enforcement measures regarding section 6(2) of the Emergency Program Act, and to consider methods of enforcement such as cutting off provincial government grants to local governments that do not have adequate emergency plans in place. This witness also recommended that the City of Victoria, as the provincial capital, be encouraged to become a model community for regional emergency preparedness.
Submissions made on behalf of the Provincial Emergency Program noted that the program has already undertaken initiatives to strengthen regional emergency planning as suggested in the Auditor General’s report. For example, the PEP has committed to funding for the Joint Emergency Liaison Committee for the next 3 years, and has doubled the funding to that committee to $140,000.00 per year. As well, the program has obtained a seat in the new regional emergency coordination centre in Vancouver (the "E-Comm Centre"). Finally, as discussed above, additional staff have been added to the PEP’s planning unit, which will enable the program to provide more assistance to local governments regarding earthquake preparedness plan development and testing.
Recommendation #7:
7.1 Your committee endorses the recommendation of the Auditor General regarding strengthening regional emergency planning and coordination, and encourages the PEP to continue its efforts in this regard.
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