Whereas Ontario Regulation 380/04: Standards under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act sets the municipal standards for emergency management programs in Ontario and requires municipalities to conduct an annual exercise with their Emergency Control Group in order to evaluate the municipality’s emergency response plan and procedures, O. Reg. 380/04, s. 12 (6);
Whereas Emergency Management Ontario previously granted municipalities exemption for the annual exercise requirement when the municipality experienced an actual emergency with documented proof of the municipality actively engaging their emergency management procedures and plan in response to the emergency;
Whereas on August 5, 2021 the Chief, Emergency Management Ontario issued a memo to Community Emergency Management Coordinators stating that effective immediately, the Chief, EMO would no longer be issuing exemptions to the O. Reg. 380/04 requirement to conduct an annual exercise;
Whereas municipalities experience significant costs and burden to staff resources when faced with the response to an actual emergency and activation of their Emergency Control Group and/or Emergency Operations Centre;
Whereas a municipality’s response to an actual emergency is more effective than an exercise in evaluating its emergency response plan and procedures as mandated by O. Reg. 380/04;
Whereas planning, conducting and evaluating an emergency exercise requires significant time and effort for the Community Emergency Management Coordinator and Municipal Emergency Control Group that is duplicated when the municipality experiences a real emergency;
Now Therefore Be It Resolved That the Corporation of the Township of Southgate hereby requests the Province of Ontario to amend Ontario Regulation 380/04 under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act to provide an exemption to the annual exercise requirement for municipalities that have activated their Emergency Control Group and/or Emergency Response Plan in response to an actual emergency that year in recognition of the significant resources used to respond to the emergency and the effectiveness of such response in evaluating the municipality’s emergency response plan and procedures; and
That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honourable Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General, Grey-Bruce MPP Bill Walker, and all other municipalities in Ontario.