Emergency management policy can be defined as the course of action taken by the government to avoid risk (Haddow, D.G et al.2008). Manitoba experienced 119 hazards in last 100 years (1904 to 2014) where flood, drought, storm and wildfire occurred more frequently which had high economic losses but very few fatalities (Jones, R. L. 1992). The emergency management policy of Manitoba has been developed through a long period of time and changed with time and with the Canadian federal policy (Starting from civil defence to risk based comprehensive emergency). It has got todays shape by layering of previous policies on top of another to increase the scope and complexity of emergency management.
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Following the new policy statement Public Safety Canada was established in 2005 to provide the field with more affirmed leadership within the federal cabinet. The new department eventually established a new Government Operations Centre to strengthen its capacity to coordinate the federal response to national emergencies. The new Centre replaced a much more modest Office of Critical Infrastructure and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP). These very significant changes underscore the importance attributed to more of national security and emergency management. In 2005 at a federal-provincial meeting, they agreed to “work together to improve and enhance the emergency response framework” of the country, and in 2007 a new formal framework entitled An Emergency Management Framework for Canada was adopted to specify the common principles, mechanisms, and instruments that would guide federal-provincial coordination in the future (MREM, 2011). The Emergency Management Act was passed in 2007 by replacing parts of the Emergency Preparedness Act, 1985 (EPC, 2008). In particular, as part of this agreement, a permanent federal-provincial joint policy statements or strategies on specific issues, such as dealing with certain types of hazards or ensuring the interoperability of communication during emergencies (Public Safety Canada, 2011b). This time, municipalities are mentioned as part of potential partners that also includes universities, the private sector, and international organizations (MREM, 2011). The federal government made some further changes to its emergency management policies in 2011. The government issued an official statement on Canada’s National Emergency Response System (Public Safety Canada 2011a), which describes the principles, roles, responsibilities, and procedures