'It's not if, but when': B.C. fires expose Canada's lack of emergency preparedness, experts say

The fire that quickly overwhelmed residents and destroyed most of a northern B.C. village has renewed calls from some experts to urgently bolster Canada's ability to respond to emergencies fuelled by climate change.

"Canada lacks a culture of preparedness generally," said Craig Stewart, vice president of federal affairs at the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The bureau is a member organization of Climate Proof Canada, a coalition of insurance industry groups, environmental groups and municipalities that advocates for climate adaptation.

"We seem to be in denial that the effects of climate change are already impacting Canadians."

Stewart says the federal government hasn't done enough to help communities adapt in order to handle the impacts of climate change.

Canada needs a new federal agency focused on disaster readiness, Stewart said, because its current response to extreme weather is disjointed and Public Safety Canada is too small a ministry to take this on.

"A new, beefed-up emergency management agency is required to protect Canadians," he said. "I think that the events of the past week have only borne that out."

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Stewart says municipalities, which are on the "front lines" of the climate fight along with the insurance industry, need to get a better understanding of their vulnerabilities.

Overall, it found emergency management plans are not keeping up with the risks of climate change.

In an interview with CBC, Oldfield said most provinces require municipalities to have emergency management plans (EMPs) and to update them regularly. But EMPs generally don't take climate projections — and therefore the increased risk and severity of floods, forest fires and other hazards — into account.

EMPs also need to be updated more frequently because of the changing climate, the report said.

Because "it's not if, but when" communities will face climate hazards, Oldfield said.

Dave Clark, the fire chief of West Vancouver, said the community is working its way through 54 recommendations included in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan that council adopted in 2019. He said West Vancouver brought in an outside consultant to help make the plan in response to the increasing frequency of wildfires in U.S. states like California.

"It's kinda like going to the doctor ... the doctor is going to tell you what's wrong, and you have to be OK with that," Clark said. "I think that's where some people are concerned, or some municipalities might be concerned, because they don't know what they're gonna find out."

He said he's confident the fire in Lytton will inspire more West Vancouver homeowners to attend his next FireSmart public information program.

"The old days of 'I love summertime, I love the wintertime, I love fall' [are gone]," he said. "Now, each season has something different that nature kind of throws at us that causes me anxiety."