‘There’ll be boots on the ground’: Minister details what support Canadian military offering in B.C.

Committing to ensure British Columbia has the support it needs for as long as it’s needed, Canada’s public safety minister is detailing how the Armed Forces will be deployed to flood-ravaged communities.

An initial team of 300 was sent in Wednesday afternoon, according to Bill Blair, who adds about 4,000 troops are ready to be deployed if necessary.

“We will continue to deploy as many people as British Columbia needs,” he said.

Thirty aircraft, including both helicopters and supply planes are expected to touch down by evening.

“The province has identified a need for air support primarily to assist with recovery, evacuation, and essential supply goods. Because roads and rail have been cut off in some areas, we’re seeing shortages of essential goods, of food, and even feed for livestock in those areas,” he explained.

“There’s also a need for aerial reconnaissance to assess the damage and to initiate the process of repair.”

“I know the PM has provided assurance to the Premier (Horgan) as we are providing assurance to the people of BC, the federal government will be there with funding and support to help the people of BC recover from this.” Blair says.

— Lasia Kretzel (@rhymeswpretzel) November 17, 2021

Outlining the range of things the province needs, Blair says ground support will also be crucial.

“There’ll be boots on the ground, they need boots on the ground. And we’ve seen in other flood events that this country has faced, the Canadian Armed Forces can provide essential support and services to communities by sandbagging, helping get people to safety,” he said.

“They have the expertise to manage some of the logistics of making sure that people who are isolated from home and evacuation centres have the supplies and equipment, the food and essential supports that they need. There are issues of livestock that have been stranded. There are problems and concerns about getting feed to that livestock. There are people who are in cities who can’t get to medical facilities. There are people that are stranded.”

I spoke to Minister @mikefarnworthbc to let him know that we stand with British Columbians during this extremely difficult time, and are working hard to provide the support they need as quickly as possible.

— Bill Blair (@BillBlair) November 17, 2021

Feds say they will support recovery, rebuild 

Repairing and rebuilding what has been lost or damaged is also something the feds are poised to pitch in with, according to Blair.

“The first order of business is always to make sure people are safe, to get them to safety and then to provide them with the support they need during the actual crisis. But the recovery is going to be extensive. There are a number of critical infrastructures —  roadways, rail lines, dikes and pumping stations — all of which have been hugely impacted by this,” he says.

“There’s going to have to be a significant investment in rebuilding the critical infrastructure.”

Acknowledging the series of crises in the province, including a heat dome that killed hundreds, and a wildfire season that destroyed swathes of the province and the entire Village of Lytton — Blair said investments will be a crucial part of the rebuild — but stopped short of estimating how much the feds might fund.

“British Columbia has had an incredibly difficult year. I think everyone in Canada acknowledges that,” he said.

“There are lessons to be learned there. There are investments in prevention and mitigation that we will make as part of the recovery investments in helping restore that critical infrastructure, not just to restore it, but to make it more resilient to such events in the future.”