“It embraces disaster risk reduction and will require that climate risk be assessed so that entities can better mitigate the impacts of climate-related emergencies before they happen,” Ma said in the legislature.Ī 14-member premier’s emergency expert task force, made up of Indigenous and community leaders, government officials, firefighters and academics, will provide advice on preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery opportunities that could be ready for the 2024 wildfire season, she said. She said the legislation, the most progressive and comprehensive in Canada, will provide preparation and protection for people and communities in B.C. “We must also be better at being proactive for and mitigating disasters before they happen.” “It is no longer good enough for us to be only focused on response, then recovery,” Ma said at a news conference after introducing the legislation. residents from their homes, and recent floods, landslides and wildfires also saw many thousands evacuate communities. The wildfires this summer forced thousands of B.C. experienced its worst wildfire season on record, with as many as 400 structures lost and a price tag nearing $1 billion. The bill would update what constitutes an emergency to reflect modern realities and risks, and provides improved tools for response and recovery, Ma said. The legislation will deliver a modernized emergency and disaster management approach that is aligned with international best practices to ensure communities are safer and more resilient, Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said. The uproar in the legislature came just after the government introduced new emergency management and disaster legislation that represents the first update on disaster management policy in three decades. While it’s the first time four parties are represented with “official status” in the legislature, it’s not the only time four parties have had MLAs in the legislature, said the Office of the B.C. “He sees political advantage in picking on kids and families and teachers and schools who are just trying to do their best for kids who are at risk of suicide,” he said. Conservative leader compares gender education to residential schoolsĮby said it was “outrageous” for Rustad to stand in the legislature and pose questions that could result in harm to children. “What I find most offensive is the division (that) is being created by what this government is implementing,” he said. Choose another question,” said the premier to thunderous applause.īut Rustad said he’s speaking up for the thousands of people with concerns about SOGI who have been staging protests in communities and at school board meetings. “To come into this place and use the authority of his office, his new party, to find a small group of kids to leverage that, to make them feel less safe in our schools, less safe in our communities, to feed the fires of division in our province and bring a culture war to B.C., it is not welcome,” said Eby. Students are taught about sexual orientation and gender identity in a diverse society and the importance of treating everyone with dignity and respect, the website says.Įby said Rustad, who was ejected from the BC United caucus in August 2022 for his anti-climate-change views, has not made an “auspicious” start with his first question in the legislature as the Conservative leader. “Will the minister admit this SOGI 123 has been divisive and an assault on parents’ rights and a distraction to student education?” said Rustad, who called on the government to replace the program.ī.C.’s SOGI program was introduced by the province to help make schools inclusive and safe for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities, says the government’s website. Rustad, whose Conservatives gained official party status last month after former Opposition BC United member Bruce Banman crossed the floor to join him, zeroed in on the government’s Sexual Orientation Gender Identity program in provincial schools, saying it is divisive and concerning to parents. John Rustad’s first question in British Columbia’s legislature as the leader of the provincial Conservative Party prompted a stern rebuke from Premier David Eby, who accused him of picking on children and families.
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