Halifax needs better emergency management strategy instead of 'ad hoc' policies: report

A new consultant's report lays out how to improve emergency management in the Halifax Regional Municipality, a day before the anniversary of a major wildfire that tore through the suburban community of Upper Tantallon.

The report from KI Emergency Management came before HRM's executive standing committee Monday.

Larry Jones, the report's author, told councillors that Halifax has dedicated staff who know how to handle emergencies, and work well with police forces and the province in stressful situations.

But he said the city's actual plans and policies are not thoroughly documented — so vital knowledge would be lost whenever key staff leave.

"There is a significant gap between what constitutes a robust program and then the actual documentation to support it," Jones said.

The consultants reviewed Halifax's various emergency documents and policies, and found that emergency management seems to have "evolved in an ad hoc manner over decades."

Firefighters and other emergency responders work at a staged command centre outside of Halifax during the wildfire in May 2023. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press)

Although Halifax has various emergency plans and reports, the consultants said it was not always clear how they fit into a municipal-wide strategic approach to emergency management.

The absence of an overall program following industry best practices and standards "is of concern," the report said.

For example, Halifax's municipal emergency plan was last updated in 2017. While it references various important factors — like evacuation, setting up the emergency operations centre, and training — it's not "thorough or comprehensive enough to provide much direction and guidance as HRM becomes increasingly [emergency management] aware."

"This is a bit of a surprise to see rework has to be done," said Coun. Paul Russell.

'It can only help'

The report suggests Halifax create a multi-year strategic plan, which would include lessons learned from last May's wildfire in Upper Tantallon and July's historic rainfall that caused dramatic flooding in Halifax and elsewhere in the province. After that, it's important to create a modern emergency management plan.

Coun. Tony Mancini asked whether a better emergency plan could have changed the city's response in those situations, but Jones said it's difficult to know.

"It can only help, I would say, but I can't give you a definitive 'would it be better or not.' But it is always a better baseline because then you know where you're starting from," Jones said.

Bill Moore, executive director of Halifax's community safety department, said the emergency management office has added staffed in recent years, and now has six people to help with this work.

He said Barry Manuel, former emergency measures co-ordinator, had great relationships with important contacts. But when Manuel left in 2018, those connections were lost and documentation "didn't get passed along or upgraded."

The consultants used a set of 73 standards from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program in their analysis, which are set by industry experts in the United States. These cover hazard identification and mitigation, risk assessment, prevention, continuity planning, resource management, mutual aid, communications and warning, and training.

Moore said Ottawa is the only Canadian city to be accredited by the program, but the aim is for Halifax to follow suit and have the standards inform the municipality's new strategy.

"We need to exercise, we need to work it, we need to have people up to date on it. So it's not just about getting the binder and putting the binder on the shelf and saying we're done," said Moore.

"There's a lot of work, and that's a lot of inter-governmental, inter-agency work."

Province examining own emergency program

CAO Cathie O'Toole said emergency management was a priority for her when she started her role, and it's timely that Halifax is looking to improve the area as the provincial government stands up the new Department of Emergency Management and Nova Scotia Guard.

An updated hazards, risk and vulnerability assessment for HRM will be a cornerstone of the new plan. That's due in June 2025.

"This is about maximizing all that work by having a common sort of playbook," said Mayor Mike Savage.

The standing committee moved the report and recommendations along to regional council for a final approval at a later date.

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