BONNYVILLE – In the event that the Town of Bonnyville ever needed to declare a state of local emergency, an Emergency Management Plan is in place for a rapid response.
The first annual review of the Town’s new Emergency Management Bylaw took place in March with the assistance of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA), which recommended some revisions and housekeeping items to bylaw.
The Town was tasked with creating its own Emergency Management Plan and bylaw in May of 2022, following an MD of Bonnyville decision to create its own municipal emergency management bylaw.
Previously, both municipalities had a Regional Emergency Plan that outlined a joint response for a potential state of local emergency.
On June 27, Regional Fire Chief Dan Heney, who also serves as the Town’s Director of Emergency Management, presented an updated version of the Town’s first Emergency Management Bylaw to council based on recommendations made by AEMA.
Notable changes include the length of time a state of local emergency would be in place and average timeframes, the addition of an alternate for the Bonnyville Emergency Advisory Committee (BEAC), and the inclusion of the municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer as a member of the Bonnyville Emergency Management Agency (BEMA).
In the unlikely event that a state of local emergency is declared, the Town must “identify the nature of the emergency, the area of the municipality in which it exists and the expected length of time it will be in place. This would normally be seven days, unless in the case of a pandemic where it may be in place for 90 days,” according to the bylaw.
The updated Emergency Management Bylaw, which council unanimously passed all three readings of on June 27, now states that BEMA “shall meet a minimum of two times per year, or more frequently as determined by the Director of Emergency Management and may meet on less than 24 hours’ notice.” The previous bylaw only required one annual meeting.
BEMA consists of the Director of Emergency Management (DEM), a position that has been designated to be filled by the regional fire chief of the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority, the Deputy Director of Emergency Management, the Town’s CAO, the general manager of the Town’s Planning and Community Services, which is currently the Deputy DEM.
Other members of BEMA include the general manager of Engineering and Operations, the general manager of Corporate Services and the Corporate Health and Safety Manager for the Town of Bonnyville.
Meanwhile, the BEAC is made up of three members of council, plus an alternate. Currently the BEAC consists of Mayor Elisa Brosseau, Coun. Brian McEvoy, and Coun. Phil Kushnir. Now that the bylaw has reached all three readings, an alternate will be selected for the committee.
Heney told council, “Emergency management activities for the Town are overseen by the Bonnyville Emergency Advisory Committee (BEAC) which empowers the committee to use resources to respond as the Bonnyville Emergency Management Agency (BEMA).”
He continued, “Upon being empowered by the BEAC, members of the BEMA will review and revise the Emergency Management Plan on an annual basis.”
The purpose of this bylaw is to establish authorities in relation to Emergency Management pursuant to the provincial Emergency Management Act, which states that the council of a municipality is required to establish a committee and an agency for the preparation and approval of emergency plans and programs, and to declare local emergencies and direct and control emergency responses.
If a local state of emergency has been declared, the bylaw states that council may “borrow, levy, appropriate and expend, without the consent of electors, all sums required for the operations of the Emergency Management Agency.”
