Improving Disaster Resiliency in Canada

Ian Becking

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

Concluding thoughts

Introduction

1983 to 2014 Canadian Army full and part time – retired as Lieutenant Colonel ◦ 2008-2009 served in Afghanistan

1990 to 2008 – Canadian Government◦ Agriculture Canada – Training and Exercise

Officer◦ Emergency Preparedness – Operations Officer◦ Public Safety Canada – Manager

Geomatics/Director Operations 2009 to 2013 – Emergency Management

Consultant 2013 to present – Managing Emergency

Exercise program for Government of Canada

My Background

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.

What am I taking about today

Disaster Management in Canada

Individuals have a responsibility◦ Often need assistance

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

Disaster Management in Canada

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.

Disaster Management in Canada continued

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:

What is resilience?

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.

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

Why is developing resilience important?

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

While governments would LIKE to devote money prior to the event, the policy benefits may be hard to realize

Challenges

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

Lessons Learned...an introduction

People;Process (or governance); and Technology

The key lessons in the three categories will be discussed that ultimately lead to improved resiliency.

Key elements of a capability

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

People

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

People – Success stories

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

People - challenges

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

Processes/Governance - Challenges

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

Processes/Governance – SuccessStories

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.

Federal EmergencyResponse Plan (FERP)

Governmental Info FlowGovernmental Info Flow

Direction and Guidance

Strategic Coordination

Operational/ Tactical

Coordination

Federal Coordination Group

Provincial Emergency

Operations Centre

Provincial Ministers

Premier

Provincial ADM

Prime Minister

DM Committee

ADM Public Safety /Operations Committee

Cabinet Committee (Operations)

Government Operations Centre

(GOC)

Provincial DM

Federal Regional Offices/Resources

Private Sectors & NGOs

Municipal Emergency Operations Centre

Other Federal Operations

Centres

InternationalPartners

The Canadian Centre for Security Sciences Partnership between Public Safety and

Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC)

Technology – success stories

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

Technology – success storiesCanada

Improved research ◦ Measurement of exercises and training

Targeted investment based on research◦ Social Media and Emergency Management

Exercise Support to key technologies

◦ Multi-Agency Situational Awareness System (MASAS)

Results from the Centre for Security Sciences efforts

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

Conclusion – key lessons for Taiwan

Questions?

Thank you for your attention