Canada at grave risk if national disaster strikes: Senate report
Attempts to improve emergency response system have been 'lethargic'
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 2, 2008 | 3:31 PM ET
CBC News
Canada's preparedness to deal with major national disasters and emergencies "gives new meaning to the word 'discouraging,'" says a report released Tuesday by the Senate's committee on national security and defence.
An unidentified health care worker wipes a door handle at North York General Hospital in Toronto, on May 27, 2003, during the SARS outbreak. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press) Canadian governments have failed to treat major human and natural disasters, like the 1985 Air India bombing and the 2003 SARS epidemic, as the major wake-up calls that they should have been, the report says.
Instead, bureaucratic wrangling and a lack of co-ordination among all levels of government are hindering much-needed improvements to the system, the report says.
The report criticizes provincial and federal governments for a "lethargic" approach to emergency preparedness that doesn't give adequate or flexible enough funding to emergency services.
"Committee members know that it isn't easy making progress on any file that crosses jurisdictional lines, particularly when some provinces are openly antagonist about having their jurisdictions invaded no matter how serious the issue," the report says.
"Nonetheless, we are talking about the possibility of widespread physical and economic disaster to Canadians here, and somebody has to cut the Gordian knot."
First responders to disasters haven't been instructed on lessons learned from past disasters, the report says.
The report also criticizes governments for not implementing a system forcing broadcasters to keep Canadians informed during emergencies and for giving too much responsibility to municipalities when responding to emergencies.
The report, titled Emergency Preparedness in Canada: How the Fine Arts of Procrastination and Bafflegab Hobble the People Who Will Be Trying to Save You When Things Get Really Bad, is the second report from the Senate's national security and defence committee since the Sept. 11, 2001, airplane hijackings in the United States.
