Canada must stop treating climate disasters like unexpected humanitarian crises

(At 5:30pm, on Aug. 17th 2020, the air in Cold Lake was so smoky from the forest fires in BC that I had to turn on my headlights to drive back to the hotel from my last job. Pictured here is the driveway I was leaving.)

Two years after devastating wildfires razed 90 per cent of Lytton, B.C., reconstruction is slow and residents remain displaced and angry about it.

This summer, 65 per cent of the Northwest Territories’ 46,000 residents evacuated, including almost the entire population of Yellowknife, due to a wildfire.

The year 2023, in fact, marked Canada’s worst-ever wildfire season, with nearly 19 million hectares of forest scorched by mid-October.

Unfortunately the cycle of disaster and displacement is not new in Canada, according to the Canadian Disaster Database. It indicates 351 disasters took place from 2000-2020, resulting in the displacement of an estimated 569,224 people and almost $20 billion in costs.

Canada’s response to climate-related disasters follows a familiar pattern — local authorities and provincial and territorial resources become overwhelmed, prompting the federal government and the Canadian Armed Forces to intervene.

This reliance on the army as a “force of first resort” for domestic emergencies is costly and logistically challenging.

Essentially, Canada’s approach mirrors the humanitarian approach to international crises. However, these recurring disasters are straining the armed forces’ capacity to respond effectively, leading to questions about the adequacy of how Canada currently handles environmental disasters.

Deferring investments

Many governments apparently prefer responding with humanitarian aid after disasters, rather than supporting development activities that would reduce disaster impacts. That’s problematic.

Protecting citizens requires defending them when threats arise and preparing for those threats. When governments fail to adequately safeguard their citizens, respond only after crises have already begun or neglect long-term needs, they fall short of their responsibilities. |Read more https://theconversation.com/canada-must-stop-treating-climate-disasters-like-unexpected-humanitarian-crises-216153| theconversation.com/canada-mus…

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