With a historic municipal election just two short weeks away, eighteen council hopefuls are campaigning for a seat in the Council Chambers. Along with four mayoral and trustee candidates, they form one of the largest pools of candidates the municipality has ever seen. With voters facing a wide variety of choices, the Herald looks to engage candidates and showcase their responses to the community’s question.
This week, the eighteen candidates for Council were sent a question regarding collaborations with First Nations on flood mitigation issues. Their received responses, in random order:
This week’s question: How can City Council work with local First Nations to mitigate climate disasters such as the November 2021 flooding event?
MJ Phillips:
“Working with First Nations must come from a place of respect and understanding of the goals that they wish to achieve is the only way we can work with First Nations.
We must understand what First Nations wish to do about this flood mitigation which will require us to respect their spiritual beliefs along the sites of this construction.
Working together as equals while maintaining the position as stewards of the environment to ensure that the fish and wildlife are protected while preventing flooding must be paramount.
Being a steward of the environment is more than just fancy words, it’s truly understanding that we take what we only need from the environment.
In this case we must take sections of this river and rearrange it and build walls to protect Land, then we must do what must be done according to the wishes, beliefs, and understandings of First Nations.”
Adam Etchart (incumbent, 2018-current):
“Council could have an emergency preparedness workshop to discuss the current plan we have in place with our emergency management coordinator. Sandbagging during flooding, fire smart practices during wildfire season are examples of what could be discussed to help protect and prevent major damages that we’ve seen the last few years. Quick action at the beginning of an event can help reduce impacts to our residents in town and also in surrounding areas. Sharing lists of emergency contacts can help everyone direct residents to the services they need depending on the event and what might be needed. Having the information may allow emergency help to repair and remediate damages sooner and lessen the severity as we saw in November 2021 Flooding. Weather monitoring stations outside of town with information shared between the City and First Nations bands could also help prepare for future weather events that could occur.”
Dana Egan:
“This week’s question is much like that asked last week. The City needs to keep an open line of
communication with all the First Nations as well as with the Department of Fisheries and the various land owners near or in close proximity to both the Coldwater & Nicola Rivers. The trick is to be able to forecast when these events might occur and be ready for it. Planning for, and communicating between, all groups that are directly affected by such events is key.”
Yvette Baxter:
“The City Council should work closely with all local First Nations bands; the knowledge the Chiefs or Elders share about the land and water would be beneficial to everyone. When natural disasters happen, they not only affect us, but the bands and their members too. If we all work together by sharing knowledge, we can help our communities grow, be safe, and build a future that we can be proud of.”
Darrel Brooks:
“Council has the primary responsibility for developing a disaster response and recovery plan and inviting local First Nations to participate in that process. Council also is responsible for the institution of emergency or special ordinances and resolutions to be implemented by city administration in the event of a disaster. Council would meet with local First Nations to discuss a mutual aid agreement and expectancy that would be an integral part of any plan where resources can be shared for disaster mitigation either within Merritt limits, or local First Nations, or both at the same time. As the response phase of disaster operations begins to subside, important considerations must be given to working together on coordinating activities to begin the process of rebuilding, redevelopment, and mitigation with the possible formation of a Recovery Task Force using key indicators such as the nature of the disaster, location, and a need for coordination of public and private assistance.”
Manuel Olguin:
“Our City of Merritt and other communities across British Columbia have started experiencing some negative impacts due to the current climate change. We need to learn from these floodings and adapt if we want to prevail over our uncertain future. The amount of rain we had in Merritt last November was exacerbated by our warming climate. It will take a partnership amongst municipal government, local First Nations, and other community groups to work together on similar initiatives such as the BC Flood strategy. The main goal of this early strategy is to increase climate data to enhance early warning capacity. Our new City Council needs to reassess our local flood mapping to identify potential new areas at risk so that we can improve flood management. In addition, we need to continue working with Indigenous communities to expand the use of prescribed burning to reduce wildfire risks. It is time to give climate change the attention it requires.”
Claire Newman:
“Given our proximity to several Indigenous Nations, a serious effort to work with our neighbouring communities should be a priority of Council. Working with local Indigenous Nations should not be a consideration, it is a requisite to being good neighbors and stewards of the land and our Municipality. It is such an important part of our daily business not only during climate disasters such as floods, forest fires and situations that negatively impact our communities. We need to pay special attention to these relationships, foster them, seek to understand, and learn from our shared experiences to build trust between our communities. The Mayor, Chiefs and all Councils will need to work diligently to meet regularly and discuss not only the safety of all our residents but also to work collaboratively on many issues such as health, education, and the housing needs of all our residents.”
Paul Petroczi:
“City Council can and should include local First Nations in discussing mitigation of climate disasters such as the November 2021 flooding event.
There are 8 First Nations Bands that are connected to the Nicola Valley either geographically or politically. These First Nations Bands add to our economy and prosperity in the Nicola Valley.
The threat of climate-driven disasters (flooding, forest fires, heat domes) is expected to grow in the near future as Canada’s climate warms, triggering more extreme and unpredictable weather. Emergency managers strive for new ways to be proactive, reduce the damage through mitigation practices. At the same time several Indigenous cultures have developed over time highly successful and efficient ways to protect themselves and their communities from risks posed by Mother Nature.
Our Emergency Managers should have and continue to have open communication/risk communication with First Nations through the following:
-emergency/disaster planning
-practice or mock disasters
-debriefings after disasters
-recovery planning”
Deanna Palmgren:
“This question required some research for me. In my recent advertisement, I stated “I will do my homework to understand current and future concerns to our citizens”.
George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, has stated “actions to support Indigenous communities and First Nations by working together as partners, recognizing and honouring the significance of indigenous knowledge and the deep connection to the land that is so fundamental to cultural and spiritual life is critical moving forward”.
The document prepared by the BC Government called “Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy: Actions for 2022-2025”, recommends continual improvement of inclusive and diverse Indigenous engagement. City Council should continue collaboration and promote relationships with our surrounding First Nations to ensure the strategic coordination of efforts toward flood mitigation.”
Susan Roline (Mayor, 2008-2014):
“We have a very valuable source of knowledge and insight at our doorsteps. By engaging our First Nations elders and elected officials during the Mitigation Planning process would be invaluable to both their communities and to the City of Merritt. Our First Nations neighbours have a very long history of paying attention and understanding the signs of what weather is going to do and the City Council would benefit greatly from that knowledge.”
Melvina White (incumbent, 2018 – current):
“There are several ways the City Council can work with First Nations to mitigate climate change and be ready in case of a repeat of the disasters we faced in 2021.
The city should recognize our First Nation Communities as essential partners and develop a partnership with First Nations Communities surrounding Merritt and ensure they are at the table and have a voice in the governance and operations of emergency management services with the City of Merritt, the First Nations Leadership Council, and the Province. First nation people are uniquely impacted by climate change and offer important insight and knowledge essential to effective climate change solutions. The Local Emergency Management Plan outlines, actions, and strategy could work hand-in-hand with collaborative efforts between the City and First Nations on disaster risk reduction and emergency management. While climate change focuses on proactively understanding, preparing for, and reducing climate impacts, disaster risk reduction looks more broadly at disasters and lessening their impacts when they do occur. Disaster risk reduction is complementary to emergency management, which focuses on preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies and disasters.”
To view the weekly question asked to Mayoral and School Trustee candidates, along with all of the Herald’s coverage of this election, view the ‘Civic Elections’ tab on the Herald’s website.
The municipal election will take place on October 15, and will see Merrittonians elect one Mayor, six Councillors, and four School Trustees to a four year term. For more information on the election, visit www.merritt.ca/election22.
