WHEREAS the coastal communities of British Columbia are at risk of significant loss of life in the event of a tsunami; AND WHEREAS the key to effectively managing the risk within each community, in the event of a tsunami, is a warning system; AND WHEREAS many coastal communities have limited financial resources to provide critical emergency response services: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM lobby the provincial government to increase financial support for all coastal communities to provide emergency response warning systems.
Ministry of Public Safety Solicitor General Since 2006, the Province has had a Provincial Emergency Notification System PENS, which rapidly delivers tsunami notifications to potentially impacted coastal communities, major stakeholders such as RCMP and utilities owners and the media. Notifications are delivered via phone, e-mail and fax. To reach the individual and household level, PENS will soon be augmented with the social media tool Twitter. In addition, the Province, Environment Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard jointly maintain and operate weather radio transmitters that deliver tsunami notifications to weather radios in potentially impacted areas. Equipment for local emergency response may be eligible for funding through the Provinces Joint Emergency Preparedness Program JEPP. Emergency response warning systems are a priority for government and this request is being considered.