Question Period Note: Flooding in British Columbia

Government Response to Flooding in British Columbia
• We continue to work directly with¬ impacted communities and support Indigenous leadership and continued response and recovery efforts.

• A multi-agency support team, including officials from the First Nations Emergency Services Society, the First Nations Health Authority, Indigenous Services Canada and the Province of BC, will be travelling to the communities of Coldwater and Shackan First Nations to directly assess impacts and provide support.

• As the weather pattern evolves this week, we continue to monitor the potential impacts to communities and are working with our partners to ensure effective communications are in place in the event further evacuations are required.

If pressed on federal supports
• Our government is continuing to work with partners to support the mobilization of federal assets to support affected First Nations communities.

• To provide support and crucial amenities for impacted First Nation members, my department provided an additional $4.4M to the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society and $330,000 to the First Nations Leadership Council, and immediate funding is available through the Emergency Management Assistance Program.

• Canada will continue to engage with First Nations leadership from Shackan, Coldwater, the Tsilhqot’in region and others across the province to ensure that affected communities continue to receive the support that they need.

If pressed on the federal response to the Shackan First Nation Community
• We continue to work with First Nations communities across British Columbia, including Shackan, to ensure that they are safe, and that every need is met.

• Most members of the Shackan First Nation community have been evacuated.

• The Government is working with the Canadian Armed forces in real-time to assess the damage to the community, through fly-overs. Officials are also assessing damage to roads and working to restore them while providing needed support.

If pressed on flood prevention - climate change and disaster mitigation efforts
• Climate change and events such as the recent flooding in British Columbia can disproportionally impact Indigenous communities due to their remote locations, close ties to the land and reliance on natural resources.

• Adaptation measures and robust emergency management are key to reducing impacts and increasing resiliency in communities.

• The Emergency Management Assistance Program is supporting emergency management services and is actively working with Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to ensure the health and safety of First Nation residents.

Emergency Management Assistance Program

In partnership with First Nation communities, provincial and territorial governments and non-government organizations, Indigenous Services Canada's Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP) helps communities on-reserve access emergency assistance services.

EMAP provides funding to First Nation communities so they can build resiliency, prepare for natural hazards and respond to them using the four pillars of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery.

EMAP aims to be: flexible, culturally sensitive, responsive to the unique strengths and customs of First Nation communities, and adaptive to the evolving challenges resulting from emergency events. The program also provides funding to provinces, territories and non-government organizations to support on-reserve emergency management.

Tripartite Memorandum on Emergency Management Services

In 2019, ISC, the Province of British Columbia, and the First Nations Leadership Council signed a Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding to advance recognition and enhanced capacity of First Nations within all four pillars of emergency management. During an emergency, such as flooding, Emergency Management BC is the lead in supporting First Nations with their response activities.

The Multi Agency Support Team
This concept is based on cultural safe and co-developed practices where Indigenous emergency management support organizations (FNESS, FNHA, EMBC, MIRR, ISC) collaborate on initial face-to-face meetings with impacted communities, and further into an event as required. The Integrated Support Team (IST) Concept of Operations formalizes activities that to some degree have been taking place for several years, and ensures impacted Indigenous communities are receiving consistent services and supports.

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