GNWT rejects another standalone emergency agency recommendation

The NWT government has rejected another recommendation to consider a standalone territorial emergency management agency, this time from a review of the response to 2022 flooding.

The territory released its formal response on Monday to an independent after-action review of preparedness, response and recovery activities related to the historic May 2022 flooding of Hay River, Kátł’odeeche First Nation and surrounding areas.

The NWT government agreed or partially agreed with 32 of 33 recommendations in the review, which were targeted at the territory.

The territorial government disagreed with one recommendation that it conduct research on the current placement of the NWT emergency management organization within the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Officials with the department said they already determined establishing a standalone territorial emergency management agency is “not feasible or appropriate at this time.”

“I would rather see more emphasis put on emergency management than administration,” Vince McKay, minister of the department, told reporters on Monday.

“We don’t need a new deputy minister and assistant deputy minister for a standalone department where we can operate that within Municipal and Community Affairs. So essentially, we’re doing it, we’re just not having its own department.”

Current system ‘flexible and responsive,” GNWT says

The territory previously rejected a recommendation to develop a permanent, standalone territorial emergency management agency from a review of the 2023 wildfire season and related evacuations. Territorial officials argued at the time such an agency would be “costly, duplicative and difficult to staff.”

The NWT government then rejected a motion from regular MLAs to reconsider that decision.

NWT officials have argued the current emergency response model involving territorial, regional and local emergency management organizations that are enacted as needed is “flexible and responsive,” ensuring strategic support alongside cost efficiency.

The NWT government added it has created an emergency management surge capacity protocol, in which territorial staff are trained to fill emergency management roles when required.

Adrien Barrieau, director of emergency management with Municipal and Community Affairs, said so far, 7.8 percent of territorial government staff have been trained in incident management with a goal to train 10 percent of staff.

Minister ‘positive’ communities will have supports they need

McKay said many of the recommendations the NWT government has accepted from the 2022 flood review have already been implemented or are currently being addressed.

He pointed to expansion of the incident command system, hiring of five regional emergency management coordinators and completion of an updated NWT emergency plan as examples.

McKay, who was a first responder in Hay River before he was elected to the NWT legislature in late 2023, said he has seen the changes firsthand.

“I think everybody spoke about the confusion … in 2023, we definitely experienced it, and I don’t think we would see that going forward,” he said.

“I’m quite positive that we will have good supports for communities when they need them.”

McKay acknowledged that building trust with residents is difficult but said the territory has learned a lot from past emergencies.

“I’m confident that going forward there’s going to be more changes and that’s because every event we’re learning from.”

GNWT partially agrees with three recommendations

The NWT government partially agreed with three recommendations in the review.

That includes increasing emergency management staffing within the territorial government to include permanent full-time employees related to finance, administration and policy.

The territory said it currently has a permanent full-time manager of recovery and four term staff that support recovery. It defended the current approach of hiring local pathfinders immediately after an emergency.

The NWT government also partially agreed with a recommendation to consider providing up-front payments to evacuees rather than government-arranged services when it makes sense.

The territory said commercial accommodations will be used when available and, when limited, will be prioritized based on health and safety needs. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs said it “remains open to alternative approaches that balance flexibility for evacuees” and financial accountability.

Lastly, the NWT government partially agreed with a recommendation that any update to the territory’s Disaster Assistance Policy maintain current principles and funding amounts.

The territory said it is reviewing the policy and updates will be based on new federal disaster funding arrangements among other factors.

Recovery ongoing

According to the review, which was completed by Stantec Consulting Ltd and released earlier this year, 2022 flooding affected more than 4,000 residents in Hay River, Kátł’odeeche First Nation and surrounding areas. It resulted in damages to approximately 500 homes, businesses and infrastructure and around 43 contaminated sites.

Gary Brennan, deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, said of those 500 cases around 130 to 140 are still open. He said about half of the open cases are close to being completed.

Some of the challenges in completing recovery work, Brennan said, include evacuations during the 2023 wildfire season and limited contractor capacity.

“Those take a long time to get through,” he said, adding pathfinders are still assisting residents on the ground in Hay River.

The review found the total cost for flood response and recovery is estimated to be $93.6 million. The NWT government said recovery is not expected to be complete until 2027.

The review included a total of 38 recommendations, 33 targeted at the NWT government and five at community governments.