Whereas the Province of British Columbia has enacted legislation known as the Emergency and Disaster Management Act EDMA that constitutes a significant download of responsibilities and addition of new legislative and regulatory requirements that will significantly and permanently add to the workload of municipalities and regional districts; And whereas the opportunities for local governments to raise funds required to support these legislative changes are limited, and where the provincial government has provided some proactive capacity funding in specific areas, such as First Nations consultation, but has not provided any guarantee of ongoing capacity funding to support the legacy of these legislative changes: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM lobby the Province of British Columbia to commit to providing long-term sustainable capacity funding to municipalities and regional districts to fulfill their emergency management duties, including responsibilities under the Emergency and Disaster Management Act.
