Five years after a devastating wildfire destroyed 90 per cent of the Village of Lytton, the Office of the Auditor General has released its review of the Province’s role in the recovery efforts. A key finding is the lack of local government capacity and funding to address large-scale recovery operations and legislatively mandated duties. This aligns with a long-standing UBCM request that the Province develop a sustainable emergency management funding and capacity-building framework for local governments.
While there were many stakeholders involved as part of the recovery, the report focused on the role of the provincial government. Specifically, the Auditor General examined the Province’s legislated role and its responsibilities for disaster recovery; resources and support provided by the Province to the Village; and challenges associated with rebuilding the Village.
The Auditor General found three key provincial challenges:
- Supporting the Village’s recovery efforts.
- Involving the Nlaka’pamux as partners in the recovery efforts.
- Providing an adequate level of oversight regarding provincially funded recovery efforts.
In trying to meet these objectives, the Auditor General suggests that the Province was constrained by outdated legislation, as well as its Interim Provincial Disaster Recovery Framework, a high-level guidance document establishing an expectation that local governments were to lead recovery efforts.
The Auditor General noted that the Village lacked the capacity and funding to address its recovery needs. Constraints included having only six staff members, and a tax base that predictably declined following the wildfire. The Village also faced a complex set of hurdles related to soil remediation, legislative requirements for archaeological work, and reconstruction of the Village office and other local government buildings.
Archaeological monitoring and testing during debris removal and site remediation became the focus of significant negative attention amongst Lytton residents, with residents citing these processes as the cause for delays in rebuilding. The Auditor General identified gaps in public education about statutory requirements for heritage preservation, and lack of public-facing provincial support for such education, as factors that contributed to the tension. The concerns with the time, cost and perceptions of a conflict of interest with the archeological requirements faced by homeowners and businesses are concerns echoed in comments provided to UBCM by 66 local governments and two First Nations in its report on proposed changes to the Heritage Conservation Act. The Province continues to review the UBCM report along with other inputs as it prepares to overhaul the act.
Since the wildfire, the Province has committed approximately $61.6 million towards the recovery, expanded its level of support and oversight of recovery activities, and introduced new tools and responsibilities through the Emergency and Disaster Management Act. Despite these changes, there are still gaps, which the Auditor General has sought to address through the following suggested actions for the Province’s consideration:
- Greater consideration for supporting small communities, including through a new framework to guide recovery funding decisions.
- Improved oversight and guidance to support local accountability with respect to the use of provincial funding.
- Additional support (e.g., tools, training) to ensure local governments can meet new and enhanced duties contained in the Emergency and Disaster Management Act.
- Consideration for guidance and tools to support the assessment of local capacity and funding to address emergency management.
Several of these concerns related to issues identified by UBCM and local governments as part of the process to develop the Emergency and Disaster Management Act. While new legislation represents a modernized approach to emergency management, it has not been accompanied by the necessary funding and support to ensure all partners, including local governments, will be able to implement the Act as intended. UBCM continues to call on the Province to provide a long-term emergency management funding and capacity building framework for local governments.