Last March, the province established a new Ministry of Emergency Preparedness, which became lead for emergency response in Ontario.
In this role, it is responsible for coordinating emergency management programs, enhancing public safety and ensuring communities are prepared for various emergencies, including severe weather events, power failures, cyber attacks, infectious diseases, wildfires and landslides, among others. It supports the proactive anticipation of potential emergencies, preparing effective responses, supporting communities experiencing emergencies and supporting them in their recovery.
In May, the province introduced updated legislation clarifying the expectations regarding local and provincial emergency response initiatives, providing resources and coordination of emergency response efforts across the province. The updated response program was deemed necessary given the increasing frequency and severity of local emergencies. The act is still working through the legislative process.
The legislation requires each municipality to develop and implement an Emergency Management program that includes municipal hazard identification and risk assessment; a critical infrastructure list; a municipal emergency plan; annual emergency review and training exercises; a public education program among other things.
There are three main goals in the legislation. The first is to develop a coordinated, timely and efficient emergency response across the province. The second goal is to develop proactive plans and monitoring system, including enhanced digital tools and provincial support for local emergency management. Communities are expected to develop risk assessment profiles on key local hazards and to provide public education promoting emergency preparedness. An online portal provides centralized source to emergency management resources.
The third goal is to establish and practice emergency responses. Each year, municipalities are expected to run emergency management exercises to better understand their own response capabilities in order to become better equipped to respond effectively when disaster strikes.
This year, an exercise of this nature was not required in Cavan Monaghan because it had already experienced two actual emergencies. On March26th, flooding along the Trent Severn Waterway began affecting the municipality, and was followed by in ice storm two days later. Power was out for some residents for almost a week. The municipality rolled out an emergency plan which mobilized staff to open a wide range of information avenues to communicate updates on the situation, Council chambers at the municipal office was opened to the public to provide internet and telephone access and the CMCC was opened to provide a warming space with hot showers and food supplies.
In early September, the village of Millbrook experienced a significant water main break on Dufferin Street, resulting in a sustained loss of pressure and the contamination of potable water reserves in the standpipe. After the line was repaired, a second break occurred the following day, extending the water restrictions for several days. The municipality coordinated with local Public Health staff to expedite water testing to restore water services to residents as soon as they could be confirmed to be safe. Since then, the municipality has reduced there placement timeline for watermains from a ten year horizon to five, hoping this shorter schedule would avoid future breakdowns in this 50-year old infrastructure.
To help communities prepare for emergencies, the ministry offers grant funding to help fund emergency equipment. Cavan Monaghan has applied for funding under this program, seeking the maximum amount of $50,000 to purchase a gas Brush Chipper.
The new legislation is designed to help communities anticipate, respond and recover from ongoing threats from natural disasters and new and diverse threats in a modern world. The Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response was created to assist municipalities prepare and address emergencies in their communities to support the safety and wellbeing of their residents.