Bowden town councillors were given an overview of their roles and responsibilities when faced with an emergency situation in the town.
Bruce Mackenzie, emergency management field officer for the central region of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, told councillors at their July 25 meeting that when a major event happens, councillors need to be prepared to leave their families for about 72 hours initially while they attend to the municipality's affairs — namely helping those who may be in need of external help. He said councillors needed to be aware that about 80 per cent of their energy could be directed toward municipal resource.
Mackenzie recommended town council draw up a bylaw to delegate someone other than Mayor Robb Stuart to direct municipal response in the event of an emergency. Stuart said council will be embarking on drafting a bylaw to designate other councillors as a director of emergency response.
“It's something we will have to do,” he said.
MacKenzie said such disasters could take many forms — such as fires, train derailments and other events.
MacKenzie told councillors that disasters are the responsibility of each individual municipality, with AEMA providing support if needed and a link to the federal government. AEMA also oversees search and rescue capabilities, if those are needed.
Mackenzie also outlined the roles and responsibilities of various municipal representatives when a local state of emergency is declared. Declaring a state of emergency allows municipal representatives extraordinary powers to force an evacuation, confiscate personal property, demolish buildings or remove structures, provide for maintenance of essential facilities, distribute essential supplies and coordinate essential services, among other powers.
One point MacKenzie made, however, is that while councillors have a vital role to play in an emergency situation, they must not impose upon the people tasked with various responsibilities in the emergency operations centre.
“During the event … it's not your role to micro-manage the emergency operations centre team,” he said.
Mackenzie said his role as an AEMA field officer is to help municipalities to mitigate, prepare for and respond to and recover from large emergencies and disasters.
In an interview, Mackenzie said his role is to provide municipalities such as Bowden with assistance with whatever challenges they might face in the event of an emergency.
“We would provide them with assistance in training, with exercising their plan, helping them develop a plan and access to various types of grants. When an event is happening, we're here to support a municipality,” he said.
