To improve disaster resilience, the provincial government of BC is increasing funding to local governments and First Nations.
Last week, Premier John Horgan announced the government is contributing an additional $31 million to the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund.
During a news conference, Horgan mentioned that two consecutive seasons of record-breaking wildfires and recent flood damage in the province prompted the increase in funding. In total, the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund now has $69.5 million.
The fund will be administered by the Union of BC Municipalities.
“The past two years have been the worst in BC’s history and the challenges of a new fire season are upon us,” Horgan said in a statement. “Drought has become commonplace, certainly in the Okanagan, but indeed right across BC. We’re looking to the season ahead to try and learn from our experiences in 2017 and 2018.”
The Canadian Press reported that since the spring of 2017, BC has earmarked $1.64 billion on flood and wildfire response and recovery programs.
