Lt. Col. Redman was the first Director of Community Programs for Emergency Management Alberta. On September 12th, 2001, he became the head of counter terrorism for Alberta. In 2004-2005, he was the team leader for writing the pandemic response plan for Alberta. He was the head of the Emergency Management Alberta which was the successor organization to Disaster Services Alberta. Lt. Col. Redman built it into the organization now known as the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
How did Canadian governments get the response so wrong?
1. Incompetence
The Premiers didn’t go to their briefing books to see how to manage an emergency. They put the wrong people in charge, being the medical officers of health.
2. Hubris
All leaders become invested in the decisions they make and don’t readily admit when they are wrong.
3. Self-Gain
The lock downs and benefits programs proved politically advantageous causing poll numbers to go up. Perpetuating the wrong response becomes easy when turning to a correct course of action requires courage; it will illicit a short-term backlash.
I am running to be your Division 6 County councillor. My motivation for running is my determination to see economic development and community growth keep Vulcan County a vibrant place to live, to raise a family, and to realize economic opportunity.
This determination is born over the last 10 years. It is a journey that began as a volunteer in the Milo and District Agricultural Society and a life-long member of the Milo community. For nine years I have served in local government, working first for the Village of Milo, then the Villages of Arrowwood and Milo, and now the Village of Arrowwood. I also live on and help operate our family farm 11 kilometres southwest of Milo, where my great-grandfather homesteaded in 1906.
I love my community and this region we call home. Volunteering in the community has been a privilege, and I appreciate the friendships that come with it. I also have had the good fortune of serving three years on the Vulcan County Subdivision and Development Appeal Board, being a great education on the appeal process.
I respect my opponent in this election. Ryan Fleetwood is a good and honourable guy. He has served us well, and I can tell you that he is a considerate and respected voice at the table. He loves Alberta. He loves this county where we both share deep roots. I wish him well on his campaign.
I am running on my experience in local government. I believe I have something to offer over the next four years that will help move the ball forward for future generations. I believe in the importance of inter-municipal collaboration and “limited local” government.
With the province mandating inter-municipal collaboration in 2017, along with the completion of Intermunicipal Development Plans and Collaborative Frameworks with adjacent municipalities, it is my belief that we need to forge meaningful collaborative partnerships between our municipalities.
I believe our priorities should be:
1.) Establishing Vulcan County as an attractive place to invest so we can continue to grow our tax base.
2.) Strategic land-use planning that minimizes conflict between competing land uses and adjacent land owners while maximizing mutually beneficial investment opportunities.
3.) See fair and reasonable cost sharing for joint services that includes municipal partners in the long term capital planning process.
4.) Lobby with municipal partners for responsive action from the RCMP on rural crime and public education in crime prevention strategies.
5.) Build political consensus for an emergency response to the COVID 19 pandemic that respects the central role of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
Big government and regionalization are not the answer. Intermunicipal collaboration and limited local government is a critical piece going forward, keeping our communities viable and thriving.
For right now, I hope to get people thinking about the strategic direction of our county and where we need to go as a region.
To have a conversation, feel free to call me at 403-990-0720. For more information, check out my website, christophernorthcott.com.
If you haven’t seen the report put out in July by Lt. Col. David Redman and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, please check it out.
Lt. Col. Redman is a decorated soldier who was the Alberta’s first Director of Emergency Management. He set up our program of emergency management and has written a lengthy indictment of how our response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been handled.
It is my view that the Redman report clearly outlines what went wrong and how we, be it the provincial government itself or municipalities pressuring the provincial government, can rectify such a poor response to this crisis.
If you were infuriated by the recent “emergency alert” that was put out to Albertans (the jarring ring tone over your phone!), you will appreciate that doing so was an exercise in fear mongering. It was an abuse of a system intended to alert us to an IMMEDIATE threat to life and property, be it wildfires, tornadoes or even kidnappings.
A lot has transpired since March of 2020. I think we all are perfectly aware that the province is in a state of emergency. Fear mongering is what Redman calls an “unconscionable tool to use” in emergency management.
Local government in Alberta is subject to the Emergency Management Act, having direct access to the Alberta Emergency Alert system. We work directly with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
Given my time in municipal government, I am well-versed in the regular training that is required of municipalities and can participate effectively in council discussions about emergencies.
Pandemics are contemplated in the provincial emergency management plan. This should have triggered a State of Emergency under the Emergency Management Act, not a Public Health Emergency under the Public Health Act.
Local government is ideally positioned to seek accountability for how the pandemic has been managed. Everything the province expects of us, they themselves did not do!
The video below is a great abbreviated overview of emergency response planning and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Local government has the means and the moral authority to follow up on the Redman Report from July and demand a course correction. Our communities, local economy, and ratepayers have suffered avoidable injury as a direct result of incompetent emergency management and fear mongering.
Everything that the province expects of local government they themselves did not do by enacting the wrong state of emergency, not following our emergency response plan, and handing over our response to Alberta Health Services.
It’s time for Alberta municipalities to assert their authority.
Municipal Government is a local authority subject to the Emergency Management Act.
When the pandemic began in March of 2020, our regional emergency management partnership began working collectively to streamline our websites and produce regular updates.
Another area where I was able to contribute was in working Gillian Williamson from Studio Lumen to produce short public awareness videos that were deemed necessary.
This video reminds me, every time I watch it, that we have great leaders in Vulcan County who care about the welfare of their communities.
Meaningful collaborative governance strategies are possible! Collaboration keeps municipal government small and local.
