DELTA — Delta municipality wants the federal government to resurrect the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program and restore its funding to the same level it was five years ago.
“It’s really important that that carries on,†Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said.
The JEPP program was established in 1980 with the goal of seeing all levels of government work together to develop a uniform standard of emergency response.
Through the program the federal government provided funds to help cover the costs of developing response plans, training, and buying emergency equipment.
But in 2009, a 51 per cent increase in the number of funding applications resulted in 21 per cent not being approved because of insufficient funds, noted Dan Copeland, director of Delta Fire and Emergency Services.
In that year, the fund’s level was at $8.47 million, with $5.07 million allocated to emergency preparedness, $3 million to urban search and rescue and $400,000 for critical infrastructure protection.
In 2010 the Conservative government reduced emergency preparedness funding to $3 million and at the end of 2013 cancelled the JEPP program altogether.
Copeland noted that the JEPP funding cuts “have ended all federal assistance for emergency planning, plan development, special equipment and training exercises.
“Municipalities across Canada are calling for the reinstatement of the JEPP funding and it is recommended that Delta lends its support to this issue,†he said in a recent report to Delta council.
Delta is now lobbying Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, to restore the program and ensure there is sufficient funding to manage emergencies of all types, across the nation.
Jackson said a restored JEPP program would “certainly go a long way†to help the municipality cope in the first 72 hours of any crisis.
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