News Release

Kelly Urges Action Now, Before Disaster Strikes

(Thursday, June 7/07)-Warm weather carries the promise of vacations and summer fun, but this time of year is also fraught with considerable risks, Mayor Peter Kelly said today.

“The season for hurricanes, extreme weather conditions and forest fires is upon us and Nova Scotia has to be well prepared to deal with these serious threats,” said Mayor Kelly. “The time to plan and act is now, before disaster strikes, not after the fact.”

HRM has extensive emergency preparedness plans in place that are constantly revised to keep the municipality as prepared as possible for potential disasters. But Mayor Kelly feels the federal government needs to do more. As Chair of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus Working Group on Public Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness, Mayor Kelly wants government to take more action on the recommendations found in a comprehensive emergency preparedness report his group developed two years ago.

“The federal government needs to stop sitting on the report and start acting now,” he said. “The recommendations could be enacted quite easily if there was the political will to do so. It all boils down to common sense-we want municipalities across the country to have at least the basic tools and training to deal with a public emergency.”

Paramount among the recommendations is that Canadian municipalities have a seat at the table with federal and provincial governments when planning strategies are developed for dealing with natural disasters and public emergencies.

Mayor Kelly said, “In almost all cases, municipalities are the first responders in a public emergency. It only makes sense that we are partners when policies and programs are being developed-and when funding details are being worked out.”

The Mayor said BCMC has urged the federal government to adopt standardized emergency response training and procedures across Canada. Early public warning systems would improve if municipalities were given access to 9-1-1 emergency telephone databases and space on the 700 megahertz bandwidth.

Mayor Kelly adds that while governments have work to do, citizens and business must also be prepared to deal with disasters. “I encourage everyone to be prepared to be self-sustaining for at least 72 hours, which takes care of you and allows emergency authorities to attend to the immediate infrastructure needs of the municipality.”

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Mayor Peter Kelly
490-4010