Lax Kw'alaams, Gitxaala to share in Provincial Emergency Services funding

The Province of British Columbia announced another round of funding programs on Friday designed to prepare for emergency situations in the province, this time focusing on 11 First Nations who will receive money for programs provided by Emergency Management BC and the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

The program as Scott Fraser, the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation is designed to "help build skills that enhance the capacity of First Nations communities to respond to large scale emergencies in their area, and support community members with emergency social services."

Two Programs are being offered to the First Nation governments, an Emergency Management Pilot Workshop and a program to provide further training in emergency social services delivery.

Melanie Mark, the Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training outlined how those programs will be instrumental for communities and how they deal with emergency situations.

“In the event of an emergency or natural disaster, we all want our families to be safe,” ... “This service agreement provides an important framework for partners to work together, so that First Nations communities get the emergency management training they need to be proactive and save lives.”

In the Northwest, the funding will be delivered as follows:

The Gitxaala Nation has been prioritized for funding for an Emergency Management workshop,

The Gitxaala Nation and Lax Kw'alaams will also be among eight first Nations to receive Emergency Social Services training.

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, who is also the Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness, hailed the partnerships that the program will build.

“Our government is committed to building emergency preparedness and response capacity within First Nations communities,”  ... “Through this partnership, we will support the development of critical emergency management and social services training in First Nations communities throughout our province, to ensure they have the tools they need to take action in the event of an emergency.”

Details as to the financial contribution towards each community was not provided as part of Friday's review of the funding initiative.

Further background on Friday's announcement can be found here.

A look at the Emergency Management BC training programs can be reviewed here.

More items of note from First Nations communities can be found from our archive page here.

A wider overview of notes on Provincial government initiatives is available from our Legislature Archive page.