Preparing for disasters has long been a consideration in municipal, household, and business budgeting. Earthquake prep perhaps attracted the most public focus in recent decades, before the 2020’s, while funding for some other streams fell off.

In late 2021 disaster preparedness became an urgent public priority virtually overnight when a series of storms dumped an unprecedented amount of rain on BC at the same time as unseasonably warm weather caused a rapid winter snow melt. Both the Fraser River in BC and the Nooksack in Washington State flooded, the water overwhelming dikes and plunging thousands of farms, businesses, and homes in the Sumas Prairie under deep water. Crops and farm animals alike perished on BC’s most productive agricultural land. All three highways connecting Metro Vancouver to the rest of Canada were severed, disrupting supply chains for shipments of food and other critical goods.

Since then, BC has weathered a series of intense wildfire seasons that have burned vast stretches of forest and many structures, droughts, heat domes, and cold snaps. The need for disaster preparedness has never been more top-of-mind – whether at a household, government, or business level.

We have brought together a panel of experts from business, First Nations, and government for a conversation about this critical matter – 7 p.m. April 30. The panel:

• Christine Trefanenko, Director and Co-Founder, CCEM Strategies

• Tony Geheran, TELUS Chief Operations Officer and Executive Vice-President

• Ross Siemens, Mayor of Abbotsford

• Leon Gaber, KPMG National Lead, Emergency Management

• Bowinn Ma, BC Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness

• Tim Swanson, FortisBC Director of Corporate Security and Business Continuity

We hope you can join us for the conversation.