News Release

HRM Receives “Excellent” Rating for EMO Effort

(Tuesday, March 29/05)-- Mayor Peter Kelly extended congratulations today to members of the municipality’s Emergency Measures Organization for receiving an “excellent” status rating following a provincial review of community emergency prepared.

Mayor Kelly said he has been advised by the Honourable Ernest Fage, Minister Responsible for the EMO Act, that HRM received a score of 112 out of a possible 115 points in the review.

“We are very pleased and proud of our EMO Coordinators, Barry Manuel and Peter Bigelow, and members of their team for receiving this designation,” Mayor Kelly said. “During the past few years, our region has had to endure a hurricane, a record-setting winter blizzard and various other public emergencies, and each time, our EMO team has been there to provide the leadership and the necessary assistance to help our community make its way through these natural disasters. Our responses have been effective, and the HRM model is becoming well-known across the province and the country.”

Mayor Kelly, as Chair of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness in Canada, also plans to take the best practices from the HRM EMO and make them available to other communities in the country.

In addition, the Subcommittee has extended an invitation to Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, to visit Halifax this Spring and tour its EMO operation, as well as meet with members of the FCM Subcommittee.

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Mayor Peter Kelly
(902) 490-4010