By Liam Verster

State of Local Emergency

City of Grande Prairie declares a State of Local Emergency

Mar 18, 2020 | 1:25 PM

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Grande Prairie has declared a State of Local Emergency.

The State of Local Emergency is an authority the City has under the Emergency Management Act. Mayor Bill Given says this declaration enables the City’s Director of Emergency Management to act without needing Council’s approval.

“The intent of the State of Local Emergency here is to allow us to better enforce the provincial measures that were previously announced under the Public Health Emergency, and to be able to respond to any emergent needs that come up.”

Given says, at this time, the City is not enacting any new measures outside of what the Province has set out, though, with this State of Local Emergency, City Administration now has the authority to put in place any new measures that may be needed as the situation develops.

He says while the City enforces the provisions, they will also be maintaining and operating the core services.

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“Our Administration has significant business continuity plans, which is a fancy way of saying ‘We looked at a service, and we know exactly how many people it takes to continue to run that service, and we have plans on how we’ll continue to run it if some of those people are away.'”

This isn’t the first time the City has declared a State of Local Emergency. It has been used in the past mainly for weather events, floods or wildfires, but Given says this declaration is much different than those previous situations

“This obviously is unique, in the fact that Grande Prairie is not the only community or region in the province that is declaring a State of Local Emergency, many many others are as well. So it is a bit uncommon that as many places are declaring it at the same time, but this is a system that is well understood by all of the local authorities that are involved.”

He says it’s not a shock that the global COVID-19 pandemic has made its way to Grande Prairie, and that everybody needs to do their part to stop or slow the spread of the virus. Given says it also comes down to the public doing their part, by self-isolating themselves when they get sick, and by practicing social distancing.

“[Social distancing] is kind of a fancy phrase, but really we need to create some physical space between people on an ongoing basis. We need to avoid gathering in large groups. And the intent of this is to slow the spread of COVID-19 so that our health system has the ability to continue to meet demand. If we don’t enact social distancing, or keep our space from one another for a period of time, it is possible that the health system will see more cases than it has resources to deal with, and that’s the outcome we’re trying to avoid.”

He adds that people don’t need to be flocking to the grocery store and clearing the shelves of the aisles, saying there is more than enough supplies for everyone in not only the City, but the region.

“All of us have seen the unsettling sight of empty grocery store shelves, but our city team has been in regular contact with all of the local supermarkets, regularly checking inventory levels, and checking delivery schedules. We are completely confident that there will be enough on the shelves for everyone. You may not find everything you need every time, but the goods that we need as a community will continue to arrive, and the shelves will continue to be replenished, and that is something that the City is monitoring on a regular basis.

“So there is no reason for anyone to stock up or overbuy, and in fact I would suggest that the community-minded thing to do, would be to only take what you need, so that others who might not have had the opportunity or the financial means to stock up, have the ability to buy what they need when they need it.”

The City, as a preemptive measure, has also offered to provide the Ernie Radbourne Pavilion to Alberta Health Services, to be used as a Provincial Assessment Centre. At this time it’s not known whether AHS will take up the City on the offer, or when that may happen.