Whereas many small community volunteer fire departments and societies provide vital highway rescue services for vehicle crashes that occur on provincial highways; And whereas while Emergency Management BC reimburses highway rescue service providers for some of the costs incurred, most small local governments and societies are contributing approximately 66 percent of the costs associated with the provision of this valuable service by providing training, personnel and vehicles; And whereas other emergency services attending vehicle crashes on Provincial Highways such as RCMP, BCEHS Ambulance and Coroners service are fully funded by provincial and federal funding agreements: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Province of BC to commit additional annual funding for highway rescue services, to provide a more fair funding model that will ensure the continuation of these services that are vital for people travelling on provincial highways.
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General The Province recognizes and appreciates the invaluable life-saving service that communities provide to motorists throughout British Columbia and is committed to developing a sustainable funding model. We are fortunate in British Columbia to have dedicated and skilled emergency responders who support public safety by responding to incidents on our highways. As well, the Province recognizes and appreciates the challenges that small municipalities and rural communities within regional districts face in delivering fire and rescue services. In 2017 the Province provided funding to the Fire Chiefs Association of BC FCABC to develop a funding and governance model for Road Rescue and a consultation process with service providers to address equipment, training, and service provision needs; this also included a one-time 1 million opportunity for an application-based program to provide up to 50,000 for equipment purchase or training expenses. This funding program was launched by the FCABC on November 24, 2020. The FCABC works through the requests and notifies the successful applicants prior to February 26, 2021. Following notification, the FCABC will be working with the Road Rescue providers with disbursements and purchasing of equipment.