Coquitlam mayor says lessons to be learned from June heatwave

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – As the latest heatwave takes hold of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, municipalities are opening cooling centres and encouraging vulnerable people to find shelter from the sun.

The mayor of Coquitlam is among those who feel there are lessons to be learned after last month’s deadly heat. Hundreds of sudden deaths were reported during June’s oppressive heatwave, many of which are believed to have been linked to the extreme temperatures. The number of deaths were four times the typical number for that timeframe.

Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart says cooling centres for the vulnerable have historically targeted homeless people. However, after June’s deaths, which involved many seniors sweltering in isolation, he believes health authorities need to re-focus.

UPDATE: BC Coroners Service says it will be investigating the tragic deaths of nearly 500 people across the province, the increase believed to be linked to the heatwave.https://t.co/FOKu58zZHv https://t.co/Hw7meqpdDC pic.twitter.com/v7cdWE6dfI

— CityNews Vancouver (@CityNewsVAN) June 30, 2021

“We were expressing concerns during the last wave that the public health response from Fraser Health Authority seemed to be focused entirely on the homeless population, and yet that wasn’t the population that it turned out was at highest risk,” he told NEWS 1130.

However, it’s not just all about what public health can and should do, Stewart notes.

“But also to message better to the public so that they can check up on their neighbour, check up on their relatives who might be isolated and might be trying to rely on a fan to keep themselves cool in their own apartments,” he said. “Public health has the ability to establish protocols and get into buildings. Municipalities can’t do that, we don’t have lists of all of the isolated seniors in our community.”

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Coquitlam will be opening its community centres, libraries, and other public buildings to provide people with spaces to escape from the heat.

The heatwave is expected to last through the long weekend. And though temperatures will not reach the extreme highs we saw in June, they are expected to climb into the 30s for the next few days.

“We really have to up our game as a society because we know that these warmer temperatures are coming more often,” said Stewart, echoing concerns many others have also voiced about high temperature reoccurrence in the future.

Many communities across the Lower Mainland have opened up cooling centres or are welcoming residents to take shelter from the heat in public recreation centres and facilities. You can find a full list of centres and spray parks near you here.