Archived - Evaluation of the Emergency Management Assistance Program - Follow-up Report Status Update as of September 30, 2010
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Action Plan Implementation Status Update Report to the Evaluation, Performance Measurement and Review Committee - As of September 30, 2010
Regional Operations Sector, Operations and Planning Support Branch, Emergency and Issues Management Directorate
Summative Evaluation of INAC's Emergency Management (2008046)
Approval Date: 24/02/2010
| Project Recommendations |
Action Plan | Expected Completion Date |
Program Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Roles and responsibilities: It is recommended that INAC clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Department as they relate to emergency management. This process should consider the current environment of emergency management, specifically the implications of the 2007 Emergency Management Act. To do so, the Department must define relationships with all external stakeholders and put in place the appropriate governance structures and agreements to ensure fulfillment of responsibilities related to emergency management. All aspects of emergency management should be considered in this process, with particular emphasis on the following areas: a. The precise role of the Department in an all-hazards approach to emergency management in the three northern territories. b. The precise role of the Department with respect to emergencies that fall within the responsibility of another department or jurisdiction (such as health issues and civil unrest). c. The program delivery mechanisms and structure relating to the four pillars of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities. d. Horizontal engagement of other relevant INAC programs that have a potential to contribute to an all-hazards approach to emergency management, such as capital infrastructure in mitigation projects or land claims in civil unrest issues. e. The precise role of First Nations communities in emergency management. |
INAC recognizes its primary role in fulfilling the federal government's responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Northerners as they relate to emergency management. As a first step, the Department has developed the INAC National Emergency Management Plan, approved in May 2009 by the Deputy Minister. The plan provides INAC with a national framework for its roles and responsibilities on emergency management which includes mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities in First Nations communities across Canada. | Update/Rationale: As of 30/09/2010: A - As of the end of September, the Senior Officials Responsible for the Emergency Management (SOREM) First Nation, Inuit and Northerners (FN/I/N) Working Group have successfully held nine conference calls and have developed an agenda for a face-to-face meeting to be held in early October 2010. INAC continues to work in collaboration with the Provinces and Territories to establish a national approach to supporting FN/I/N emergency management. The working group has also established an Inuit and Northerners sub-working group to focus on issues facing the North. INAC regions in collaboration with their respective Provinces and Territories continue to work towards developing emergency management service agreements with guidance from SOREM FN/I/N Working Group. B - INAC HQ has engaged INAC regions to develop strategies to increase the percentage of First Nations with Emergency Management Plans. The regional strategies have been put in place to support the development of First Nations Emergency Management Plans. The Regions continue to work First Nations communities to develop best practices for training and exercising. The Emergency and Issue Management Directorate (EIMD) and Northern Affairs Organization are still working with INAC Regional's to complete the annexes under development to clarify INAC's emergency roles and responsibilities in the North. INAC continues to work closely with Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch. The Departments have a Memorandum of Understanding regarding pandemic and emergency preparedness and meet regularly to discuss issues of importance. EIMD is working collaboratively with officials in both the Operations and Planning Support Branch and the Community Infrastructure Branch to incorporate on reserve fire protection into broader emergency management initiatives. AES: Underway |
|
| A - In addition to the INAC National Emergency Management Plan
and to address recommendation 1 as described, INAC will be working
with the Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management
(SOREM) First Nations, Inuit and Northerners Working Group to establish
a national approach to emergency management Service Agreements
with the provinces/territories. As part of this, the SOREM Working
Group made up of intergovernmental representatives will support
the development of a clear national INAC framework on emergency
management, including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery
for: - roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders; - identifying services to be delivered; - capacity building in communities; - establishing a funding formula for emergency management services rendered; - eligible and non-eligible expenses; - the declaration of an emergency on reserve; and - accountability (including a reporting mechanism). |
Implementation work has already been initiated with a planned completion date of October 2011 tied to EMAP authority renewal | ||
| B - As part of this process and for preparedness, INAC will
explore approaches to ensure the development of meaningful emergency
management plans in First Nations communities through a capacity
building approach. INAC's EIMD and Northern Affairs Organization (NAO) are currently collaborating on developing an annex to INAC's National EM Plan to clarify INAC's emergency roles and responsibilities in the North. INAC's precise role with respect to emergencies that fall within the responsibility of another department or jurisdiction (such as health issues and civil unrest) is known and must simply be better communicated to stakeholders. For example, INAC worked closely with Health Canada's First Nation and Inuit Health Branch to develop a joint action plan, based on the Department's role as set out in Annex B of The Canadian Influenza Pandemic Plan for the Health Sector. The joint action plan clearly described INAC's precise role during the H1N1 emergency. INAC also participates in Public Safety's Interdepartmental Working Group on the All Hazards Risk Assessment Framework for increased collaboration at the federal level. Although better communication and coordination has been achieved since the creation of the Emergency and Issue Management Directorate in September 2008, work is ongoing to develop stronger links to other relevant INAC programs to reinforce the all-hazards approach to emergency management in the Department. |
June 2010 | ||
| 2. Program funding structure: It is recommended that INAC consider a revised funding structure, to alleviate the impact on regions, other program areas, and communities and provide a secure funding base for the Department's emergency response and recovery activities. To facilitate this transition, INAC should document existing INAC funding for emergency management programming and develop forecasts for future expenses relating to an all hazards approach to emergency management. INAC should also identify appropriate resources in alignment with the Department's roles and responsibilities as determined in the response to Recommendation 1 above. Specifically, ensuring that the department has the ability to provide preparedness and mitigation services in accordance with Departmental obligations under the EMA. |
INAC will use the present evaluation and authority
renewal process to further investigate and determine the most appropriate
funding structure to meet all of the Department's legal and contractual
obligations regarding emergency management in its area of responsibility
while alleviating unintended impacts on regions, other program areas
and affected communities. To support this exercise, the Department has started to track and document all emergency management related expenses for better forecasting purposes. Also as part of this, INAC will develop options to secure appropriate resources in alignment with the Department's roles and responsibilities for emergency management assistance as well as obligations under the EMA. |
As part of the EMAP authority renewal scheduled for completion by October 2011, a funding structure to reflect the Department's legal and contractual obligations will be developed for approval. | Update/Rationale: As of 30/09/2010: As part of the work of the SOREM FN/I/N Working Group, services to be delivered are being defined and clarified which will then inform the required funding structure needed to support them. Once guidelines for service agreements have been developed and agreed on, further work will be done to define the funding structure, develop a business plan to support it and identify a source of funding for it. AES: Underway |
| 3. Performance measurement: It is recommended that INAC develop a Performance Measurement Strategy for emergency management programming in consultation with the Evaluation Performance Measurement and Review Branch and in accordance with the principles of the new Treasury Board Policy and Directive on Evaluation. |
The Department is in agreement with this recommendation. The Performance Measurement Strategy and the EMAP authority renewal process will be completed simultaneously | 31/09/2011 | Update/Rationale: As of 30/09/2010: EIMD and Evaluation, Performance Measurement and Review Branch of the Audit and Evaluation Sector will be working in the Fall of 2010 to develop a Performance Measurement Strategy for emergency management at INAC in accordance with the principles of the Treasury Board Policy and Directive on Evaluation. In the interim, EIMD has produced it's first annual Incident Report on emergency and issue related events that took place in 2009-2010 and after action reports on the H1N1, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics and the G8/G20 Summits. These reports were presented at the Departmental Operations Committee. AES: Pending Implementation |