City of Calgary offers clarity on the role councillors should play in local emergencies

Amir Said · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 12, 2025 6:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 hours ago

New updates to Calgary's exigency absorption program were designed to connection immoderate clarity astir metropolis councillors' relation during emergencies.

The revisions were presented to council's exigency absorption committee connected Thursday, conscionable implicit a twelvemonth aft 2024's catastrophic h2o main break. A authorities of section exigency was declared aft the h2o main break, and successful the aftermath of the crisis, the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) found amended clarity was needed astir councillors' relation during metropolis emergencies.

"There was, to me, deficiency of clarity or deficiency of engagement by the associated members of council," said Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong connected past year's crisis.

Susan Henry, main of CEMA, told the committee that councillors person a cardinal relation to play during emergencies by "being the voice" delivering metropolis messaging to constituents, arsenic good arsenic done utilizing section contacts to assistance the city's efforts.

Calgary's updated exigency absorption program highlights that the relation of metropolis councillors includes providing approved messages to ward contacts, utilizing ceremonial and informal assemblage networks to stock accusation and support connections with constituent businesses and organizations, and sharing applicable issues with CEMA.

"We truly enactment immoderate beardown connection astir the intersection with [councillors] and [their] constituents," Henry said.

The politician has the added responsibilities of representing assembly to the media and participating successful 2 different catastrophe groups: the section exigency committee and catastrophe consultation group.

Different exigency groups

The section exigency committee, Henry clarified, is made up of the politician and 1 designated councillors. It holds the authorization to declare, renew oregon rescind a authorities of section emergency, and is abstracted from the exigency absorption committee, which offers absorption and guidance of exigency planning.

The recently created catastrophe consultation group is included successful the projected updates to the act. This radical whitethorn beryllium convened by the metropolis erstwhile further governmental and fiscal guidance is needed, only operating erstwhile requested by the manager of exigency management.

The catastrophe consultation group's rank varies depending connected the emergency, but it whitethorn see the mayor, councillors representing wards impacted by the situation and different elder leaders with the city.

Politics vs. operations

The updated program besides clarifies the favoritism betwixt municipal authorities and metropolis operations, oregon what Wong called "undue power from assembly members to archer [CEMA] what to do."

The program stipulates that councillors whitethorn enactment successful metropolis media availabilities astatine the petition of the manager of exigency management, and that attendance astatine the exigency tract falls extracurricular of their purview unless specifically requested.

"It's very, precise important successful an exigency that we're capable to respond … successful the champion involvement of the assemblage quickly, without often a batch of consultation with the governmental environment," said Henry.

"That consultation happens successful the exigency operations centre with our 55 bureau members, and past we supply a agreed beforehand forward."

The exigency absorption committee voted unanimously to approve the updated exigency plan. It volition beryllium discussed astatine a regular gathering of metropolis assembly aboriginal this month.