Earthquake Preparedness Consultation 2014 Backgrounder

Earthquake Preparedness Consultation 2014 Backgrounder

On March 25, 2014, the Auditor General of British Columbia released the report titled "Catastrophic Earthquake Preparedness" which focuses on Emergency Management BC's (EMBC's) planning and reporting with respect to this eventuality. The report includes nine recommendations to government. The Ministry of Justice has accepted all nine of the Auditor General's recommendations and action is being taken to address the recommendations. (See the recommendations and the Ministry of Justice's responses in the Auditor General's full report http://www.bcauditor.com/pubs).

However, it is worth noting that the Auditor General's report focuses only on one part of British Columbia's emergency management system — EMBC. In British Columbia, emergency management is a shared responsibility between the public, all levels of government, and numerous stakeholders. Thus, enhancing British Columbia's preparedness for a catastrophic earthquake will necessarily involve all parties.

On March 11, 2014, it was announced that during the April to July timeframe, there will be extensive consultation with British Columbia stakeholders regarding issues, priorities, and opportunities in the area of catastrophic earthquake preparedness. These consultations will culminate in a report, with recommendations, to the BC Government by the end of the year. Mr. Henry Renteria (the Chair), former Director of California's Office of Emergency Services, will lead this consultation.

The following link provides a news release and project Terms of Reference, etc: (http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/03/earthquake-consultation-to-improve-public-safety.html). Please feel free to share this news release and the terms of reference with other interested stakeholders.

Work is currently underway to identify the specific stakeholders that the Chair will reach out to. Geographically, the Earthquake Preparedness Consultation (the Consultation) will be focussed on areas at highest risk for catastrophic earthquake, but input from stakeholders across BC is welcomed.

The Consultation is just one line of effort within EMBC that is contributing to enhanced preparedness for a catastrophic earthquake. There are essentially three lines of enhanced effort in this regard, in addition to ongoing EMBC activities that contribute to catastrophic event preparedness:

1. The Consultation chaired by Mr. Henry Renteria (discussed above).
2. A public education campaign focused on earthquake preparedness, to be launched this summer. This campaign will be a joint effort between EMBC and Government Communications and Public Engagement within the provincial government. Planning for this campaign is underway. Questions can be directed to EMBC's public education coordinator, Ms. Kim Fournier (kim.fournier@gov.bc.ca or 250-952-4914).
3. Development of a specific long term plan for enhancing catastrophic earthquake preparedness in BC. This represents a continuation of EMBC's planning efforts and is being incorporated as a key goal in EMBC's overall Strategic Plan (Spring 2014).

With respect to #1 above, the Consultation, EMBC and the Chair are currently in the process of arranging for meetings and other stakeholder feedback opportunities. Questions or suggestions can be directed to the EMBC project lead, Mr. Cameron Lewis (250-952-5040 or Cameron.Lewis@gov.bc.ca).