Minister McLellan, you head a diverse and complex agency that includes emergency preparedness, the RCMP, CSIS, border security, correctional service, and parole. How do you go about that?
It is a new department created in December 2003 to give focus and bring together key agencies, to get us pulling in the same direction. It is going very well. There are many management challenges, there is still much work to do, but everyone is pulling together, achieving amazing results. I am proud of the department; it is a tribute to the quality of the public service.
My leadership philosophy is to let the experts do their jobs, to not micromanage — which I couldn’t in a department this size even if I wanted to. The key is to get the right people in the right places and have confidence in them. Our Deputy Minister, Margaret Bloodworth, was DM at Transport during 9/11 and spearheaded the response, accepting hundreds of diverted airplanes. I have confidence in her and the management team.
It is easy to take pot-shots at the RCMP, CSIS, CBSA, but I need to defend them against unfair criticism — they are on the line serving Canadians. We respond to legitimate criticism with learning. We don’t try and hide or be defensive, we suck it up, and we make the changes necessary.
Our job is one that will never be finished. Preparedness is a continuum, and a continual process. It is evolutionary — we learn from others, we are constantly changing, evaluating and responding.
We are much better prepared due to recent events. The 1985 Air India bombing was the start of the modern face of terror. People were in shock, and perhaps in denial, but the air industry responded thoroughly. People tended to put some distance between themselves and that event — otherwise nobody would be getting on a plane. We can’t let terrorists determine the way we live our lives. We learn from others and best practices. We have looked at London and Madrid and seen their responses; we study and learn.
In terms of the public being prepared, it is our role to educate, to let them know their role. People to a surprising extent respond with calmness and by helping others. The recent Air France accident in Toronto is an example — 300 people evacuated from the plane in 52 seconds, with no serious injury.
Canada’s international efforts through defence, diplomacy and development are becoming more integrated in our new international policy and the concept of “the three block war.” Is there a similar trend in public safety and emergency preparedness?
Everyone has a stake in being prepared for emergencies, so as you can imagine, PSEPC has invested a lot of time and energy in that area. We recognize first and foremost that we can’t go it alone. Because we live in a world that is highly inter-connected and inter-dependent, success relies on building strong partnerships across our different levels of government, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations.
For example, PSEPC has co-location agreements in place with some provincial emergency management organizations that allows us to integrate emergency management functions. By being co-located in one emergency operations centre, we can lead a more effective overall response to all types of emergencies. For instance, Nova Scotia’s emergency measures organization is located in the Halifax Regional Municipality, where emergency managers from all three levels of government work together under one roof. This has resulted in an unprecedented level of cooperation and is serving as a best practice.
PSEPC also has co-location agreements in Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories, and discussions are underway to identify other provincial and territorial partners where co-location is practical.
To build awareness of emerging threats before they develop into major emergencies, PSEPC issues alerts, advisories and other analytical products that are available to Canadians, businesses, governments and other stakeholders (see www.ocipep.gc.ca/opsprods/index_e.asp).
This allows them to become more aware of risks they face and to establish relationships and improved information sharing among different levels of government and the private sector.
The common thread in all of this is that by working together, PSEPC and its partners are ensuring a safer and more secure quality of life for all Canadians. Success depends on not working in isolation.
We have moved beyond the traditional notion of emergency preparedness to a more comprehensive emergency management system where we look outside traditional response and recovery efforts to prevention and preparation. This system is based on the four pillars of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
Mitigation, the first pillar, involves developing strategies to avoid emergency situations and to reduce their harmful effects.
Preparedness, the second pillar, involves being ready for possible emergencies by having the right training and tools in place.
Providing resources and/or support during the emergency is the Response pillar.
Recovery is helping communities adjust and rebuild as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This approach also includes a focus on integration — departments working together at all levels of government within Canada and with our international partners. It also means bringing together emergency management functions with national security to ensure the safety and security of Canadians.
A key priority is securing our borders and working with the United States on border security. We have taken many steps on our own and in collaboration with the U.S. and other allies to be vigilant and to respond to the new threat environment.
The 2005 federal budget included more than $500 million over five years to improve border security and management. I’m pleased that part of this funding will allow the Canada Border Services Agency to hire an additional 270 border officers over the next five years, demonstrating Canada’s commitment to ensuring public safety through continental security.
Hand in hand with our focus on security, the Government of Canada is working to protect and build the trade relationships that underpin our economy and none is more important than the relationship that we share with the U.S. Close to 200 million people cross our borders each year. Two-way trade between our two countries now stands at over $2 billion a day. Twenty-three percent of everything the U.S. exports comes to Canada. And over 80 per cent of everything we export goes to the U.S.
Our two countries work together very closely on a range of initiatives that speak to our collective security and our prosperity and this is the basis of the Security and Prosperity Partnership with the U.S. and Mexico announced by the Prime Minister and Presidents Bush and Fox in March in Waco, Tex.
We understand on this continent we have a shared obligation to our collective security and safety and that we have a shared obligation to be prepared when emergencies happen. We have a shared obligation to protect our own and each other’s peoples and there is no relationship the Government of Canada values more than that with the U.S. And as we move forward together, as it relates to the Security and Prosperity Partnership, this new partnership speaks to all those things.
The Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, has served as a Member of Parliament for Edmonton West and now Edmonton Centre since 1992. Born and raised in Nova Scotia, she earned a Ll.B. from Dalhousie and a Master of Laws from the University of London. She was assistant professor for four years at the University of New Brunswick before moving to associate professor and later acting dean at the University of Alberta from 1980 to 1992. She has served as Minister of Natural Resources (93-97), Justice (97-01) and Health (02-03) before her current appointment in December 2003.
Minister, Canada’s correctional system is respected around the world – though not always at home. We don’t hear as much about it now with the emphasis on terrorism.
Our corrections system is recognized around the world; but we realize that we need to constantly work and revise our policies and programs in order to better serve and protect Canadians. In April 2005, Minister Cotler and I introduced legislative amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the legal framework for the federal correctional system, and announced new
program measures and new funding.
Key elements of the proposed amendments to the Act and new
program measures would:
Ø Provide victims with financial travel assistance to attend parole hearings
Ø Create a National Office for Victims, featuring a new toll-free line for information and support
Ø Tighten up the Accelerated Parole Review process
Ø Reinforce greater scrutiny of those
eligible for Statutory Release
Ø Streamline the Temporary Absence process
Ø Permit terminally ill offenders to apply for early release on humanitarian grounds
Ø Assist offenders suffering from mental illness, and
Ø Create additional Community Corrections Liaison Officers.
The right of victims to present a statement at National Parole Board hearings would also be enshrined in the proposed legislation. Other elements of the Bill include providing more information to victims, such as: reasons for offender transfers; information on offender program participation; and access to recordings of the most recent parole hearings.
The definition of victim would be amended to ensure that guardians/caregivers of dependents of deceased, ill or otherwise incapacitated victims could get the same information to which victims are legally entitled.
While the international community seems to recognize our system, we continue to make improvements to it — which could be in part the reason for this recognition.
Safe Communities includes crime prevention. We have a large arsenal — crime prevention, recidivism reduction (rehabilitative programs in prison, supervision and support on parole), the RCMP and law enforcement, and community resources. Prevention should be the responsibility of a separate agency, appropriately funded, which will work with grass roots organizations in each community. The problems differ. The community needs to identify particular problems, from inner city to displaced youth to gangs. It is a complex challenge requiring a multifaceted response.