Improved Provincial-Municipal Emergency Collaboration and Communications

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lack of proactive communication and meaningful engagement from the Government of Alberta towards Alberta municipalities and their emergency management organizations. This has resulted in negative outcomes for Albertans. 

Alberta’s municipalities and their emergency management agencies have positive working relationships with their operational counterparts within the Government of Alberta, however, the decision-making process that was adopted by the Government of Alberta for the pandemic limited the ability of both orders of government to effectively collaborate. In traditional emergency management processes, local authorities play a leadership role within their jurisdiction and are provided support by the Government of Alberta (through the  AEMA) in a collaborative manner through a well-established framework. During the pandemic, there has been very little opportunity for municipalities to provide advance input on public health measures, Ministerial Orders and provincial decisions even though these have had significant consequences at the local level and Alberta’s municipalities are required to implement and enforce them. 

There have been several occasions over the past 15 months where if municipalities had been given either the opportunity to  provide input into the drafting of orders, or advance notice of their issuing, confusion would have been prevented and the efficiency of implementation of orders improved. 

Alberta’s municipalities recognize the Government of Alberta’s mandate to lead on public health issues and pandemic response, and that protracted engagement with every municipality in Alberta would be a challenge. Despite this challenge, communication flow and coordination needs to be improved for future emergency events.

The pandemic response did not just include issues requiring the timely communication between different orders of government, the drafting and execution of public health orders, and public communications. The wider pandemic response also included supports and financial aid for individuals, businesses and municipalities to meet immediate short-term challenges and support long-term post-pandemic recovery. During the pandemic, both location-specific and province-wide orders and measures were enacted (in urban, rural, and Indigenous settings) and their utility and effectiveness must be understood to improve future responses in similar emergency situations.

The wider pandemic response also required Alberta’s municipalities to make difficult decisions regarding their own local pandemic response.  Municipal councils and administrations had to determine, under difficult financial and health circumstances, which services should be prioritized and at what level of service (i.e. continued or reduced). During the pandemic, municipal governments worked hard to find innovative solutions to support the welfare and safety of their citizens and businesses while advocating to the Government of Alberta for financial support and stimulus investments.

As the pandemic ends, it is important for organizations to review their emergency response, to proactively conduct a lessons learned review to identify issues and deficiencies and look towards improving their plans and best practices, in order to be better prepared when a similar emergency occurs in the future . In the municipal emergency management context this includes, but is not exclusive to, reviewing issues of emergency response, the drafting and issuing of health orders, improved communication between orders of government, business supports, clarification of essential services, review of financial aid programs, value of municipal stimulus program, consideration of multiple scales of response and recovery (urban, rural, Indigenous) and review of vaccination and mass casualty planning.

This resolution is proposing to  AUMA members that the Government of Alberta and Alberta’s municipalities conduct a comprehensive review of the pandemic response together to find solutions to these issues, improve provincial-municipal cooperation and collaboration, and improve emergency communications and coordination going forward into any similar emergency event. A permanent advisory group is needed, made up of members from Alberta’s emergency management organizations and other key municipal stakeholders, which could provide a resource to aid the Government of Alberta’s decision making and improve municipal-provincial collaboration, coordination and communications.