When an extreme weather event impacts a municipality, the Municipal Council can leverage a range of internal and external programs and organizations to respond to the event and complete recovery activities.
The roles of internal agencies and the nature of funding programs varies by municipality, but in Alberta it is a legal requirement that every municipality has an emergency management agency, which can carry out planning, response operations, and co-ordination related to extreme weather events.
Municipalities also work closely with societies, corporations, communities, and non-profit agencies (e.g. Red Cross, Salvation Army) [1] to deliver relief services. As covered in our pages on provincial and federal responses, municipalities also play a role in coordinating provincial and federal funding programs [2].
While municipalities play a significant role in responding to extreme weather events, it is important to note that in most situations, they do not provide financial relief directly to their citizens.
For example, The City of Calgary used money from its “rainy day fund” to enable public and private tree clean up following the Snowtember event in 2014, but did not provide funds to individual Calgarians to clean up their private property [3].
It is also important to note that not all extreme weather events related to water will elicit an emergency response from a municipality. There are many examples of municipalities using their emergency management agencies to respond to flood, snow, and rain events, but not every storm necessitates a municipal response.
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Ross has extensive executive experience in Operations, Governance, Information Technology and Strategy at the board and senior management level including Mancal Corporation, Mancal Energy, Highridge Exploration and Atlantis Resources. He has worked in Oil and Gas, Coal, Commercial Real Estate, Portfolio Management, Recreation, Retail and Water and Wastewater Treatment. His experience is also geographically diverse having overseen operations in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Additionally, he has been on the board of companies with operations in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Kazakhstan, and Russia. He has served on numerous Public, Private and Not for Profit Boards across a number of industries.
Ross has been active on several industry Boards and committees including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and The Schulich School of Engineering Industry Advisory Council at the Schulich School of Engineering.
Brian is a seasoned Cleantech entrepreneur with a proven history of successfully bringing complex water technologies to the market. With over 25 years of experience, he has led various organizations to achieve significant milestones in the industry.
Having started as the founding CEO of the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC) and later taking the helm at the Water Technology Acceleration Project (WaterTAP), Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit has been instrumental in driving innovation and growth within the sector.
He is an active investor in the cleantech sector and has served on many boards including the Ontario Clean Water Agency.
Actively engaged in industry associations like AWWA, WEF, IWA, and ASCE, Brian enjoys collaborating with fellow professionals to promote advancements in the field.
Brian holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation. As a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, he brings valuable insights to corporate governance.