The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, wants to make disaster management more effective, after the forest fires which caused unprecedented damage last summer.
Mr. Bonnardel presented Bill 50 on Wednesday “aimed at promoting resilience to disasters and modifying various provisions relating in particular to emergency communications centers and protection against forest fires”.
This bill stipulates that local municipalities are the primary authorities responsible for the protection of people and property on their territory.
It provides that regional and local municipalities must adopt respectively a regional disaster resilience plan and a civil security plan.
Declaration of state of emergency
The text also allows a municipality to declare a local state of emergency on its territory, for a maximum period of 10 days, when a disaster occurs or is imminent, in order to protect life, health or integrity of people.
At the government level, the bill formalizes the administrative structure for government coordination of civil security. It gives the minister responsibility for establishing a national disaster resilience plan, as well as a disaster response plan.
It also allows the government of Quebec to declare a national state of emergency, for a maximum period of 10 days, when a disaster occurs.
Bill 50 also provides for alert and mobilization measures applicable during a disaster or its imminence. It also touches on the issue of compensation programs.
The minister would also have the power to restrict or prohibit movement in the forest, as well as the right to prohibit making fires on the territory he determines.
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