The City of Yellowknife is looking to revive a management position to oversee emergencies following the worst summer for wildfires in the communitySA国际影视传媒檚 history.
The position, which previously existed within the Public Safety Division, is something administration would like to see brought back and debated in upcoming Budget 2024 discussions, city spokesperson Sarah Sibley told Yellowknifer earlier this month.
The position has been dormant since 2021. Its role in the past was intended to guide emergency planning and management oversight functions, such as during wildfires, prolonged winter power outages and pandemics.
In the past, the city has called the role a SA国际影视传媒渃ore functionSA国际影视传媒� of the municipality. It currently falls within the responsibilities of director of public safety Craig Maclean. The Public Safety Division also oversees municipal enforcement and fire and ambulance response.
SA国际影视传媒淐ity administration is proposing to reintroduce the manager of emergency management position as part of Budget 2024 given the impact of recent evacuations to, and mass evacuation of, Yellowknife as a result of natural disasters,SA国际影视传媒� Sibley stated.
The emergency management position was created in October 2018. Doug Gillard held the job until September 2020, after he was moved out of his decades-long position as Municipal Enforcement Division manager. However, with Covid-19 arising and the city wanting to save costs, the position was removed in Budget 2021.
SA国际影视传媒淓mergency preparedness/management remains a core function of municipal governments and this function continues to be managed within the public safety department,SA国际影视传媒� stated then-city spokesperson Alison Harrower in November 2020.
SA国际影视传媒淭he manager of emergency preparedness position is not included in Budget 2021. In the unprecedented circumstances of Covid-19, the administration is looking at ways to reduce the impact on taxes for residents,SA国际影视传媒� Harrower added at the time.
Mayor Rebecca Alty said in an interview on Sept. 27 that any decision to bring back the position will be for council to consider when budget discussions take place. However, given that the capital city has seen continued SA国际影视传媒渆mergency after emergencySA国际影视传媒� since 2021, the management position may be required.
SA国际影视传媒淲ith Yellowknife being a reception centre twice this year and once last year it is definitely highlighting the increasing number of emergencies that Yellowknife is dealing with,SA国际影视传媒� Alty said. SA国际影视传媒淓ven if it is Yellowknife acting as a reception centre, that does mean that we have to activate our emergency plan which involves a lot of work at the city staff level.
SA国际影视传媒淚t does seem as we go forward that we will have a growing need to prepare and respond to these (emergencies). ISA国际影视传媒檓 definitely looking forward to that discussion.SA国际影视传媒�
There could be an option of actually adding another staff position, Alty said, partly depending on where funds are sourced.
SA国际影视传媒淚f weSA国际影视传媒檙e not able to find redundancy in another position, then this would be an added position,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut itSA国际影视传媒檚 too early to tell because we havenSA国际影视传媒檛 got to Budget 2024 to look at what the impact would be. There could be different ways to fund it.SA国际影视传媒�
Budget discussions delayed
Alty said the budget approval process for 2024 wonSA国际影视传媒檛 commence until the new year as the city needs to push back the timeline due to the city employee lockout/strike last February and March and the wildfire evacuation in August and September.
SA国际影视传媒淯nfortunately, due to the lockout and the forest fires, and because we still need to approve our 2022 financial statements SA国际影视传媒� hopefully by the end of October SA国际影视传媒� weSA国际影视传媒檒l need about two months to draft the budget,SA国际影视传媒� the mayor said. SA国际影视传媒淪o we are looking at January, February (for) review and approval.SA国际影视传媒�
Typically, the budget is passed by city council every December.
Council has yet to approve city administrationSA国际影视传媒檚 proposal to pursue SA国际影视传媒渁n after action assessment of the 2023 wildfire response/mass evacuation,SA国际影视传媒� which was presented during the Sept. 25 government priorities committee meeting. The city has stated that an assessment would examine SA国际影视传媒渙rganizational and functional challengesSA国际影视传媒� and identify how to improve performance for future emergency response.
Should the assessment be approved in the coming weeks, Alty said that reviving the role of manager of emergency preparedness may be needed to implement those review conclusions.
Overall, the wildfire evacuation emergency response had its leadership roles fulfilled, especially after the Canadian Armed Forces provided capacity and added its expertise, Alty said.
SA国际影视传媒淲e had everybody in the roles that we needed and I think the Canada Task Force 2 team doubled our capacity and provided some good subject matter experts with expertise,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut I think from the preparedness and all the work thatSA国际影视传媒檚 going to be coming out of this after action review, itSA国际影视传媒檒l be an important role to have.SA国际影视传媒�
