Sheila Fraser, Auditor General of Canada

Auditor General finds Harper Conservatives neglected emergency response plan

From Liberal Health critic MP Hon. Dr. Carolyn Bennett

OTTAWA – The Auditor General’s report released today points to a lack of leadership and guidance by the Conservative government in coordinating responses to emergencies – which goes a long way towards explaining the chaotic response to the H1N1 flu pandemic, Liberal MPs said.

“The Conservative government neglected emergency planning,” said Liberal Health Critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett. “The result is a breakdown in coordination amongst federal, provincial and municipal agencies for properly managing national crises, like the H1N1 pandemic.”

“It‘s no longer surprising to see why the Conservatives are poorly prepared for this health crisis. The Auditor General found they didn’t see the urgency in having an effective national emergency response plan in place, and Canadians are now suffering because of it.”

The AG report finds that although Public Safety Canada developed a Federal Emergency Response Plan to coordinate emergency response activities across government, the Conservatives have never formally approved it in the four years they’ve been in office.

MPDr. Carolyn Bennett, government is not ready

Ms. Fraser states that in 2007, the government directed Public Safety Canada to assess the Plan, at which time a number of “capability gaps” were identified. An action plan to address these gaps was never advanced because of a lack of guidance and decision-making by the Conservatives.

Ms. Fraser concluded that the government has “not exercised the leadership necessary” to coordinate emergency activities or has provided departments with “guidance” on what is needed in the event of emergencies.

The report says that until an effective federal plan is fully implemented, federal response to national emergencies will lack coordination and harmonization.

“Ms. Fraser’s findings echo what we’ve been saying for months – this government’s complacency and missing urgency has led to a breakdown of the coordination and leadership that we need,” said Liberal Public Safety Critic Mark Holland.

“The results are being played out across the country as hundreds of thousands of Canadians continue to be at risk, communities are running out of vaccines, and mass confusion continues.”

Liberal Treasury Board Critic Siobhan Coady pointed to Ms. Fraser’s findings that the Conservatives shelved a third of the budget allocated to national emergency management in each of the last two years.

“Ms. Fraser found the Plan as it exists is not updated or complete in terms of defining who does what and when during a national emergency,” said Ms. Coady. “Instead of spending the money they were supposed to on emergency preparedness, they chose to blow taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars on self-promotional partisan advertising. It’s time the government did its job and started to protect Canadians with an effective, proven emergency response plan.”

BACKGROUND

Highlights of Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s report today:

• In the 2008-09 fiscal year, the government allocated $58.5 million for emergency management. It only spent two-thirds of this.

“In this context, it is evident Public Safety Canada has been unable to develop its capacity for emergency management.” (Chapter 7.21)

• In April 2009, only 56 percent of senior managers at Public Safety Canada had been in their jobs for more than 18 months. In the 2008-09 fiscal year, the rate of employee turn-over was 71 percent in emergency management.

“In order to move forward in its mandate to exercise leadership, Public Safety Canada needs to have experienced and knowledgeable staff in place.” (Chapter 7.20)

• Over half of the budget allocated to national emergency response exercises – designed to share lessons learned and best practices – was shelved in each of the last three fiscal years.

“Public Safety Canada recognizes the need to increase the number of federal and multi-jurisdictional exercises.” (Chapter 7.37)

• A government-wide exercise found that information analysis and sharing at the Government Operations Centre – which is at the core of the federal coordination efforts for events of national significance – was poor as far back as February 2009.

“Officials at Public Safety Canada told us that the Government Operations Centre did not have the physical facilities to support the number of staff needed to keep the operations centre fully functional for a major emergency lasting an extended period of time.” (Chapter 7.34)

Contact: