Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response (CEPR)

2006 Report of Activities

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Office of Program and Business Coordination (OPBC)

Managing risk, maximizing opportunity

The Office of Program and Business Coordination (OPBC) was created in 2006 with a mandate to facilitate program development within the CEPR, to advise and guide CEPR technical and program areas, and to assist them in aligning their programs with Public Health Agency of Canada priorities. The Office is also instrumental in guiding initiatives through government bureaucracy, and in ensuring that all necessary consultations have occurred before initiatives are implemented.

Strategic policy liaison and coordination

The OPBC represents the Centre on PHAC policy and informational committees and maintains awareness of other PHAC and government projects through the development of networks of contacts. The OPBC is also tasked with important policy liaison activities – both within the Agency and among key federal, provincial and territorial EPR partners.

In addition, the OPBC is home to the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Coordination and Emergency Social Services Unit and the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Group, which undertake collaborative initiatives with stakeholders and partners outside the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Federal/Provincial/Territorial Coordination and Emergency Social Services

The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Coordination and Emergency Social Services Unit continued to support the development of a more integrated and comprehensive national health emergency management system in Canada in 2006 by collaborating with both governmental and non-governmental partners to strengthen planning, response and recovery capacities.

A key success for the Unit in the past year was its co-hosting of the 6^th National Forum on Emergency Preparedness and Response. The Forum proved to be a watershed event, facilitating, for the first time, discussion of EPR issues and problems common to multiple sectors within a framework that affects EPR thinking across jurisdictions.

National Forum on Emergency Preparedness and Response

The CEPR and the Public Health Agency of Canada teamed up with Public Safety Canada to co-host the 6^th National Forum on Emergency Preparedness and Response in Vancouver in December 2006. The Forum brought together more than 250 stakeholders from across health emergency management, emergency social services, public health, and public safety and emergency management organizations to address the challenges of Building System and Community Resiliency in Canada.

Office of Program and Business Coordination (OPBC)

Emergency preparedness and resilient populations

Continuing its tradition of serving as a critical venue for raising awareness of and action on new EPR issues and trends, the 2006 National Forum explored the emerging understanding that resilient, healthy populations are a key to enhancing emergency preparedness in Canada, and that increased attention must be given to enhancing the capacity of people and communities to withstand multiple health risks.

Turning stakeholders into partners

Forum participants, including EPR policy experts, researchers and practitioners, emphasized the need to recognize and support the resiliency that people bring to emergency situations. Although a greater number of seniors, for example, may have physical health problems, they also have tremendous capacities based on experience, wisdom, knowledge and skills acquired over their lifetimes. In this respect, seniors, along with members of other vulnerable populations, should be seen as part of the solution rather than part of the problem faced by emergency managers.

This inclusive approach ensures that emergency management programming remains consistent with the needs of Canada's shifting demographics, and culturally compatible with Canada's diverse communities.

DID YOU KNOW?

Addressing the needs of vulnerable populations

In 2006, the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Coordination and Emergency Social Services Unit held a series of consultations and workshops on emergency preparedness and vulnerable populations (i.e. seniors, persons with disabilities, children) to develop a more coordinated and collaborative mechanisms for addressing the needs of vulnerable and at-risk populations in emergencies. This included collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada Division of Aging and Seniors and the World Health Organization on the organization of two international workshops focusing on seniors and older persons in disasters.

Additional achievements

Additional achievements for the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Coordination and Emergency Social Services Unit include the completion of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Memorandum of Understanding on the Provision of Mutual Aid in Relation to Health Resources during an Emergency, and coordination of a national roundtable (in collaboration with professional health organizations involved in psychosocial and disaster mental health planning) to identify priorities for the development of a more integrated framework to manage the emotional and behavioural impacts of emergencies.

Looking ahead

Key priorities for the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Coordination and Emergency Social Unit in 2007 include:

• co-hosting of 2007 National Forum on Emergency Preparedness and Response, in Halifax, Nova Scotia;
• developing a national vulnerability/resiliency framework;
• developing a framework for psychosocial planning and response;
• completing the National Health Incident Management System, in collaboration with the Expert Group on Emergency Preparedness and Response;
• completing the Real Time Pandemic Exercise Proposal, in collaboration with the CEPR's Office of Emergency Preparedness; and
• developing a national strategy on surge capacity, in collaboration with the Council of Health Emergency Management Directors.

Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Group

Legal preparedness is an essential component of public health risk management in Canada. The Office of Program and Business Coordination's Legislative and Regulatory Affairs (LRA) Group focuses on updating and strengthening legal tools to help prevent the introduction and spread of communicable diseases in this country.

These tools include the recently modernized Quarantine Act, which gives Quarantine Officers more authority to respond to evolving health threats, and the enhanced legislative framework for human pathogens (Human Pathogens Importation Regulations), which will provide a comprehensive biosafety legislative regime for the possession of human pathogens, including related biosecurity aspects and domestic controls.

Canada's new Quarantine Act

Canada's new Quarantine Act became law in December 2006, capping a two-year drive to modernize this centuries-old piece of legislation. The OPBC's Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Group was busy throughout 2006 working on the development of Bill C-42, a bill to amend section 34 of the Quarantine Act. Preparation for the implementation of the new Quarantine Act included the development of statutory instruments, such as Orders in Council, necessary to bring the new Act into force.

Other Achievements

Additional achievements for the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Group in 2006 include: the preparation of Cabinet documents to support the development of a new legislative framework for human pathogens and toxins; work on the implementation of the new International Health Regulations (2005) across the Public Health Agency of Canada, other federal departments, provincial and territorial governments, and local public health authorities; the preparation of relevant statutory instruments to formalize the transfer of medical supplies from the CEPR's National Emergency Stockpile System to New Orleans in support of recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; the provision of legislative and regulatory guidance and policy advice to the CEPR's Office of Laboratory Security; and the negotiation of a federal/provincial/ territorial Agreement on Mutual Aid during a Public Health Emergency with F/P/T legal representatives.

Looking ahead

Key priorities for the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Group in 2007 include:

• finalizing the Framework for Cooperation Agreement for the Quarantine Act with provincial, territorial and local health authorities;
• finalizing and coordinating implementation activities of the Quarantine Act and Bill C-42, an Act to Amend the Quarantine Act;
• leading the implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005);
• continuing to support the development of new legislation for human pathogens and toxins; and
• supporting the development of other memoranda of agreement on behalf of the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response.

 Regional Coordinators

DID YOU KNOW?

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