BC Gov News

A new school year unlike any other begins in just a few days. I know living through the pandemic is a worry for all of us. But I know many people, especially students, are excited about heading back to school, to connect with teachers and friends.

The effects of COVID-19 have been far reaching. Everybody in our province has been impacted, as well as everybody across Canada and around the globe. We have learned a lot about the virus, how it spreads and how nations around the world are managing outbreaks.

The provincial government has introduced a series of ministerial orders under the Emergency Program Act to support its ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2017 and 2018, British Columbians were stricken by record-setting flood and fire seasons. The impacts are still being felt in communities like Grand Forks and Ashcroft.

April 15 to 21, 2018, is National Volunteer Week, a time to celebrate the too-often unsung labour of ordinary citizens accomplishing extraordinary feats.

During Tsunami Preparedness Week, we need only reflect on the events of Jan. 23, 2018, when many of us were rousted out of our beds just before 2 a.m.

April showers bring spring flowers, but they can also unleash floods and trigger landslides — a reality that those of us who reside along flood plains, unstable slopes and river banks know all too well.

When I took on my new role as parliamentary secretary on July 18, 2017, wildfires were sweeping through the Interior, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes and communities.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is on the verge of Exercise Coastal Response (https://news.gov.bc.ca/stories/exercise-coastal-response-2016), a culmination of the dedicated work of hundreds of Emergency Management BC employees and public safety partners across the province. This is the province’s first full-scale earthquake and tsunami response exercise, and the labour and planning involved in preparing for it over the past 10 months has been extraordinary.

We know the area of land and coastline that now makes up British Columbia has experienced many major earthquakes and tsunamis in the past, and history has taught us that it is only a matter of time until the next “Big One” strikes. This is not speculation – a major earthquake is coming to the west coast. We as individuals, families, communities and as a province must do everything possible to better prepare for this eventuality. We are all in this together.