Retired fire chief, RCMP officer add authoritative voices to First Nations emergency response planning _ Trans Mountain

Retired �re chief, RCMP o�cer add authoritativevoices to First Nations emergency responseplanning JUNE 24, 2015 /

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From what I know, no other industry group in Canada is doing this,bringing in Aboriginal expertise on the emergency management side.

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When Dion Arnouse (left) and Wayne Schnitzler (right) met for the first time, it was a disaster.

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It was 2003. Arnouse was working in British Columbia as a police officer with the RCMPAboriginal Policing and Community Safety Program. Schnitzler was Fire Chief for Westside FireProtection District (now West Kelowna Fire Rescue).

The Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire, the biggest wildfire ever to threaten people and propertyin BC, was right on Schnitzler’s doorstep. More than 1,000 forest fire fighters, 60 firedepartments and 1,400 Canadian Armed Forces members were involved. Schnitzler was workingunder an emergency response program called the Unified Command System. Evacuation orderswere given and operational plans were developed at the command post set up to deal with thefire.

Arnouse was part of a massive RCMP effort in which more than 33,000 people were safelyevacuated. More than 238 homes were lost in the fire that raged over 25,600 hectares.

After retiring from the RCMP, Arnouse formed his own company. 2Badgers Consulting drawsupon the knowledge gained in his 22-year policing career, and from his own background as anAboriginal person. The company helps build positive relationships among First Nations,government and companies in the resource sector, with a focus on community safety,emergency preparedness and environmental protection.

When Arnouse recently learned that Schnitzler had retired after a distinguished 35-year career,the two men reconnected for an opportunity with Trans Mountain Expansion Project in theEmergency Management Portfolio, Aboriginal Engagement. They’re working to connect with 130Aboriginal communities along the right-of-way for the proposed expansion from Edmonton,Alberta to Burnaby, BC.

It’s a huge mandate, but they are confident they can deliver valuable services to eachcommunity along the route. Between them, Arnouse notes, they have close to 60 years ofexperience with emergency response planning including extensive involvement with Aboriginalemergency response planning.

They assess a community’s capacity to respond to a civil emergency and provide support toupgrade emergency response skills and capacity. Although their primary objective is to makesure each community has an organized response for a pipeline spill, both men say a naturalevent such as a fire, a flood or an ice storm is much more likely.

“The likelihood, say, of a pipeline spill actually happening is minimal,” Arnouse said. “We knowthat because we bring 50 – 60 years of experience specific to Aboriginal communities. This iswhat makes our business unique. There are a lot of consulting businesses out there but I thinkwe come forward as a very balanced team. We speak from real experience.”

“I come from a small First Nations community (Little Shuswap Lake) so I’m very aware of thechallenges. From what I know, no other industry group in Canada is doing this, bringing inAboriginal expertise on the emergency management side.”

Schnitzler, who began his career as a volunteer firefighter in Surrey in 1979, worked his way upto captain of training before being hired as fire chief for Westside in 1996. His district includedWestbank First Nation. West Kelowna named him Citizen of the Year in 2009. When he retired inMarch 2015, the mayor thanked him in particular for his “leadership and strength” during forestfire emergencies. Schnitzler, who is Metis, also brings more than 20 years’ experience workingwith First Nations Emergency Services, delivering fire training, fire chief workshops and workingwith local government on fire prevention initiatives.

“One thing we like about this project is that Kinder Morgan is being pro-active, long-term. Thismakes our job delivering the safety message a lot easier,” Schnitzler said.

TRANS MOUNTAIN EXPANSION PROJECT BACKGROUNDERWhat is the Trans Mountain Expansion Project? Trans Mountain is proposing an expansion of its current 1,150-kilometre pipeline between Strathcona …

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“When we first met with the company, we talked about what their goals were in emergencyplanning, emergency response and safety in First Nations communities. It’s nice to see acompany where these are high priorities, not only in First Nations communities but also in themunicipalities the pipeline is running through. We inquired with other people about KinderMorgan’s safety commitment, on our own, and got that same impression from them as well.”

“That was a key for us in taking on this project. When someone has the same values as we have— safety is first and foremost in the organization — we found it very easy to say ‘Yes, we will beinvolved.’”

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