Ottawa is studying options to start up a new federal agency for disaster response, similar to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), says Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan.
“This is something that I have been looking at for some time,” Sajjan said during an Aug. 12 virtual press conference to provide an update on wildfires, adding that using the military for disaster response is not the ideal strategy.
“The Canadian Armed Forces is a very high level asset that we don’t want to just use as a typical labour force,” said Sajjan, who previously held the defence portfolio.
FEMA works well for the U.S. in its federal system, the minister said, noting that Canada’s current disaster response capabilities are based in its provinces and territories.
A future federal emergency response capacity would have to “work hand in glove with the provinces and territories,” said Sajjan, adding that Ottawa’s main priority is to provide additional funding to provinces and territories to deal with natural disasters.
Along with this support, the federal government is also betting on its Humanitarian Workforce program to respond to emergencies. Implemented in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the program funds non-governmental organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross to rapidly mobilize a civilian workforce. Sajjan’s office says $167 million has been invested in the program thus far.
Ottawa is looking into bolstering that program, Sajjan said, while adding that “eventually, we have to take a look at what will our—for lack of a better [term]—our FEMA at the national level will look like.”
The minister is not only looking at what is being done in the U.S. with FEMA, but in other countries such as Australia and France. Sajjan also said he would be going to Germany to discuss its emergency response program.
The minister said it’s too early to tell what a Canadian federal agency would look like, adding that he sees it happening “down the road.”
“We will take the best lesson from FEMA and some of our other international partners and incorporate it for what will work best for us,” he said.
There are currently no public timelines for a Canadian agency, Kanga said, noting that the first steps involve consulting abroad and with domestic stakeholders. Talks with provinces and territories are currently underway.
“We have a lot of stakeholders at the table that are pitching us ideas and that are giving us their input, and we’re taking it on and trying to see what can work,” she said.
The Alberta government, dealing with the aftermath of the wildfire in Jasper, has recently discussed with Sajjan the issue of a future federal agency.
“We look forward to continued conversations about what a future emergency response agency could look like and how it would align with Alberta’s needs and existing emergency management structures,” said Heather Jenkins, press secretary for the Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver, in a statement to The Epoch Times.
