'I'm alarmed': N.W.T. MLAs question minister on emergency plan updates

Some Northwest Territories MLAs grilled officials from the territory's municipal and community affairs department Wednesday on updates to its emergency plan.

MLAs discussed the updates at a public ministerial briefing at the standing committee on accountability and oversight.

The territorial government released updates to its emergency plan on Monday. That plan is meant to be a living document that describes the emergency management framework in the N.W.T. and the roles and responsibilities of departments, governments and non-government agencies.

Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan said she's concerned that the updates don't help residents prepare for an emergency.

"I'm alarmed," Morgan said. "It seems that the objective of the updates to this plan was to provide clarity and provide assurance."

Morgan said to her, the plan isn't clear at all.

"I don't think anyone in the public is going to read this and say, great, now I have clarity."

Morgan said she's also concerned the plan treats local authorities as all the same, which isn't the case for Yellowknife, which acts as a hub for many nearby communities during evacuations.

"I believe that the emergency plan needs to acknowledge the unique role that Yellowknife plays within the territory," she said.

Morgan also said some municipalities can't handle emergencies on their own.

"If there's an evacuation of Yellowknife, I don't think any of us can or should pretend that somehow the city of Yellowknife as a local authority is going to manage that on its own," she said.

Vince McKay, the minister of community and municipal affairs, said the emergency plan is meant to be a "territory-wide" plan" and doesn't go into specifics for each community.

"They do change, and we can't build an an emergency plan [with] every fine detail that could happen," McKay said.

Municipal and community affairs officials from left to right: Sonya Saunders, assistant deputy minister; Emily King, public safety director; Vince McKay, minister; and Gary Brennan, deputy minister. (NWT Legislative Assembly )

In an interview with CBC the day before the committee meeting, McKay said he's confident communities are ready to handle their responsibilities under the emergency plan.

He said members of his department have been helping out if community governments have needed training or aid.

"It is important that the communities understand that at a community [emergency management organization] level ... that they're responsible for the emergency at hand," he said.

Fort Resolution without fire plan

Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon noted that Fort Resolution has been under third-party management for about a year. He said he's been asking for a fire plan from the territorial government.

Edjericon said while he understands leaving planning up to communities, it doesn't always work.

"In this case, the third-party management is under your department and to this day, a year later, I still don't have a fire plan," he said.

Sonya Saunders, assistant deputy minister of municipal and community affairs, said a community meeting is being planned "in the very near future" in Fort Resolution to provide an update. Saunders said there is a "fairly significant" fire break already built around the community, but more information about an emergency plan will be provided at the meeting.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Richard Hawkins echoed his colleagues, asking why the department isn't helping design these community emergency plans.

"Where is MACA's role in this, that's clear and transparent?"

Emily King, the department's director of public safety, said MACA doesn't currently have the authority under the Emergency Management Act "to dictate how a community emergency plan is written and what's articulated."

Right now, the department has a template with suggestions about what should be included in such a plan and workshops are offered through the department to create those plans.

"Ultimately it is the authority of the community government to determine their emergency plan contents," King said.

King said the emergency plan template is "quite detailed" and does outline all the sections that should be included in the plan. She also said part of the workshops includes a commitment from MACA to fill in the template and then hand it off to the community government.

Hawkins said he still doesn't agree with that process.

"I think it's to some context, abrogating some level of responsibility," he said.