May 7, 2024 – Courtney Dickson/CBC The province says it’s working with Meta, the company that owns the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, to ensure important information is distributed to its users during times of emergency, such as wildfires. …
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B.C. announces centralized booking system for evacuees needing hotel rooms
May 4, 2024 – Doyle Potenteau/Global News A pilot project regarding emergency evacuees needing hotel rooms was introduced in B.C. this week. The project, a partnership between the provincial government and the BC Hotel Association, is aimed at helping people …
How B.C. is mobilizing for ‘challenging’ wildfire season
Apr 29, 2024 – Courtney Dickson/CBC News Dozens of fires have already sparked in British Columbia this season — and many more are expected to ignite as spring turns to summer, and drought conditions persist. The province says it’s been …
Service B.C. is hitting the backroads with satellite-phone equipped van
Apr 27, 2024 – Wolf Depner/The Abbotsford News A van offering 300 different government services, including the renewal of various licences, promises to benefit rural and remote communities during emergencies and beyond. But it may take some time until the …
Pitt Meadows receives $20,000 from province to expand ESS team
Mar 25, 2024 – Brandon Tucker/Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News The government wants to help ensure that Pitt Meadows residents are properly prepared for a possible emergency with the help of a recent injection of nearly $20,000 in provincial funding toward …
B.C. unveils $39M for climate emergencies, new flood plan
Mar 21, 2024 – David P. Ball/CBC News British Columbia’s emergency management minister has announced $39 million in new funding for more than 50 new projects responding to more frequent climate-related emergencies across the province. On Thursday, the province also …
B.C. residents asked to prepare for a “challenging” wildfire season
Mar 18, 2024 – Wolf Depner/Victoria News British Columbians are asked to prepare for an early start of the 2024 wildfire season, with new fires joining some 90 hold-over fires — also known as Zombie fires — from last year. …
‘Times are changing’: B.C. minister addresses online criticism over bringing baby to legislature
Feb 28, 2024 – Shannon Paterson/CTV News Vancouver When Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s minister of emergency management and climate readiness, posted a photo of her three-month-old daughter Azalea in a makeshift nursery in her legislature office, most people were supportive of …
Minister defends fire-related travel ban that cost Okanagan communities millions
Feb 23, 2024 – Klaudia Van Emmerik/Global News Bowinn Ma is defending her ministry’s decision to issue a regional travel ban last August due to the McDougall Creek wildfire that erupted in West Kelowna, B.C. “I want to emphasize that …
B.C. MLA fires back at sexist post about working mothers
Feb 20, 2024 – Sonia Aslam and Hana Mae Nassar/CityNews Vancouver A B.C. cabinet minister is pushing back against outdated and sexist thinking, after someone on social media made a comment about her new baby. Emergency Management and Climate Readiness …