B.C.’s emergency supports are outdated, under-resourced and fail to meet diverse needs, says report

Open this photo in gallery:

B.C.’s emergency supports during the twin climate disasters of fires and floods in 2021 were inadequate and inaccessible for vulnerable evacuees, the province’s ombudsperson says in a new scathing review.

In his report released Tuesday, Jay Chalke found that two provincial programs, the Emergency Support Services (ESS) and the Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA), were outdated, under-resourced and failed to meet diverse needs.

“A one-size-fits-all approach that we’ve seen in the past in terms of emergency support is short-sighted and doesn’t do nearly enough to meet the needs of a diverse public that it is trying to serve,” Mr. Chalke told reporters.

An hour before the ombudsperson’s report was released, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma introduced Bill 31, which she describes as a high-level framework that emphasizes preparing for and mitigating the impacts of climate-related emergencies before they happen. But the new Emergency and Disaster Management Act, which runs at a hefty 122 pages, does not offer obvious solutions to the province’s challenges around emergency response.

In 2021, tens of thousands of people were displaced across B.C. as a result of the extreme weather events, including a forest fire that wiped out the town of Lytton and catastrophic floods that damaged critical infrastructure, highways and farms.

In response, Mr. Chalke conducted an 18-month-long investigation to find out whether provincial supports met the needs of those displaced and devastated by the damage. He examined the ESS, which provides short-term financial support for basic needs like food and lodging until evacuees can return home or are no longer in need, and DFA, which helps people who are underinsured or uninsured in specific events to rebuild their homes.

Mr. Chalke pointed out that the current model of these programs – heavily reliant on volunteers – is not sustainable, and that the province urgently needs a comprehensive forward-looking plan for those who are displaced long-term. In 2021, he said, 90 per cent of people needed ESS for more than the 72 hours that the program is built for. According to his report, some who were displaced have not yet returned home this year.

“What we saw in 2021 was an old-style response that tried to meet the needs, but that method is, in an era of climate change, no longer fit for purpose. British Columbians will be much better served by a co-ordinated plan response to longer-term displacement,” he said at the news conference Tuesday.

B.C. NDP introduces disaster bill as legislature starts with four official parties

The report made 20 recommendations for the B.C. government, all of which have been accepted, including identifying ways to better communicate about the program, consulting broadly on a plan to support people experiencing long-term displacement and supporting Indigenous self-determination in emergency management. Mr. Chalke said he is expecting the government to deliver them between now and 2025.

Ms. Ma said her government has already moved to make improvements to the delivery of emergency support programs, but she conceded more needs to be done.

“The Ombudsperson has produced a very valuable report for us, based on the 2021 disaster season. The recommendations, however, are not a surprise to us,” she told reporters Tuesday. She said her ministry has already been working on solutions to a lot of the issues that have been raised, and a lot of changes have been implemented since the 2021 wildfire season. “But there is a lot of work to do.”

She pointed to the changes made since 2021 to shift emergency support applications from paper files to online documents, speeding up registration for services. While that change provided better access to services this past summer, she said “there absolutely were challenges” that still need to work.

In August, West Kelowna was put under the state of emergency, as the massive McDougall Creek fire destroyed or damaged nearly 190 properties. The wildfire forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 properties and put another 10,000 homes on alert, with about 50,000 residents impacted.

Ms. Ma on Tuesday acknowledged some challenges with connecting those evacuees with services. At the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in September, it was West Kelowna delegates who led a call for a significant increase in spending on wildfire prevention and a better system for delivering financial aid.

The urgent work of improving wildfire response has been handed to a new task force whose recommendations, due early 2024, are to be implemented before the next wildfire season begins. The 14-member panel of experts will look at improving the technology used to predict wildfires, incorporating volunteer resources for wildfire response, and finding ways to integrate rural and municipal fire departments into the BC Wildfire Service for interface fires that threaten communities.