The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) is developing a new communications and public notification plan to keep residents informed before, during and after an emergency—and it wants your input.
“We have experienced first-hand the effects of a variety of different types of emergencies in the regional district,” said SLRD board chair Jen Ford. “At all stages of an emergency, information is key, and having a plan to guide this process will help improve our overall preparedness for, and response to, emergencies in the future.”
Recent wildfires, floods and landslides have prompted record-breaking activations of the SLRD’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), according to a staff report.
A policy gap was noted following the Downton Lake and Casper Creek wildfires in 2023, revealing the regional district lacked "an overall public notification/ emergency communications plan...that would direct a timely, accurate and efficient public notification system and allow for the prompt dissemination of vital information in an emergency event.”
The anonymous, 10-minute survey is meant to help address that gap.
The communications and notification plan is being developed thanks to provincial grant funding administered by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).
The grant, awarded through the UBCM’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund’s Public Notification and Evacuation Route Planning Stream, is part of “a suite of funding programs intended to support First Nations and local governments prepare for disasters and reduce risks from natural hazards in a changing climate.”
The SLRD is working with Butterfly Effect Communications to finalize a communications plan by July 2025.
The survey is open until midnight on June 4. Those who would prefer a physical copy of the survey are asked to contact [email protected].
