WHEREAS society has placed significant emphasis on crisis and consequence management capacity in response to terrorist acts based on Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear CBRN events; AND WHEREAS police services, and other first responders, will be the first to attend CBRN incidents within their local jurisdictions; AND WHEREAS the lives of citizens will be directly impacted by the capacity of those first responders; AND WHEREAS the acquisition and maintenance of these capabilities training and equipment is very expensive; AND WHEREAS the current method of obtaining CBRN funding for municipal police services is though the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program grant, disbursed by the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness after provincial and municipal government approval; AND WHEREAS this present method of obtaining extraordinary funding has proven to be inadequate, time consuming and cumbersome: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities urge the federal and provincial governments to provide increased and streamlined funding opportunities for crisis and consequence management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear events directly to municipal police services based on their current and identified police responsibilities.
Ministry of Public Safety Solicitor General British Columbia Emergency Management planning and response consists of an all hazards approach. This includes a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear response and operates on the principles of shared responsibility with the local government which retains primary responsibility for emergency management within their own jurisdiction. The Province supports the local governments program through the use of existing systems and procedures. This is reflected in the various funding and support strategies such as the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program and the UBCM emergency planning grants. The request for additional funding would need to be considered further with UBCM, local government, police and other emergency response partners.