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On June 26, New Brunswick Local Government Minister Bernard LeBlanc and New Brunswick Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General John W. Foran announced that five northern municipalities in their province signed an emergency measures reciprocal agreement that will put a plan in place to protect residents in case of an emergency. The municipalities of Saint-François, Clair, Lac Baker, Baker Brook and Saint-Hilaire in the Madawaska region of the province have signed the agreement that will allow the municipalities to work together in the event of an emergency by sharing resources and information, as well as the costs associated with these events
Source article – Government of New Brunswick, 26 June 2009

On June 28, the Manitoba Water Stewardship issued a flood advisory for the Red River Valley, the Interlake, the Whiteshell and areas east of Lake Winnipeg in southeast Manitoba. The advisory was issued due to a major rainstorm that brought 50–100 millimetres to the areas. Also, overland flooding developed in areas east of the Red River, the eastern Interlake and areas east of Lake Winnipeg. Some homes were surrounded by water and some smaller roads were overtopped.
Source article – Government of Manitoba, 28 June 2009

Further to Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report DIR09-122, on June 26, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reported that 1,043 new cases of H1N1 flu virus infection have now been confirmed in Canada. This brings the total of cases to 7,775: 264 (21 new) in B.C.; 793 (188 new) in Alberta, including 1 death; 689 (59 new) in Saskatchewan; 599 (82 new) in Manitoba, including 2 deaths; 3,161 (496 new) in Ontario, including 7 deaths; 1,834 (174 new) in Quebec, including 11 deaths; 9 (5 new) in New Brunswick; 130 (13 new) in Nova Scotia; 3 in P.E.I.; 31 (4 new) in Newfoundland and Labrador; 1 in Yukon; 67(1 new) in Northwest Territories; and 258 in Nunavut.
Source article – PHAC, 26 June 2009

The 3rd meeting of the ISO TC 224 - WG7 on Crisis Management of Water Utilities was held in Banff, AB on May 25-27, 2009. The delegates of the WG7 were from Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, Portugal, UK and USA. The group discussed and reviewed the chapters of the 2nd draft of the guideline developed by different adhoc groups following decisions taken at the meeting in November 2008 in London, UK. The guideline will cover crisis management of both water and wastewater systems and is intended to be a clear, concise and practical document. The next meeting is scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan on October 26-27, 2009.

The international ISO TC 224 - WG7 were invited to participate in a specialty workshop on water security incidents organized jointly by CWWA and the City of Calgary on May 28-29 at the Water Centre in Calgary, AB. More than 50 members and non-members attended this successful event which provided a unique opportunity to hear and learn experiences related to water security in Canada and other countries. The participants had the opportunity to discuss at length the security issues with the large number of experts present at the workshop.

Source: CWWA bulletin, June edition

Further to Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report DIR09-121, on June 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that 108 countries have officially reported 59,814 cases (3,947 new) of H1N1 flu virus, including 263 deaths.
Source article – WHO, 26 June 2009

Another Alberta county has declared a state of agricultural disaster because of a lack of rain combined with cool weather this past spring.Lamont County council will lobby the provincial and federal governments for financial assistance.

Last week, the County of Camrose declared an agricultural state of disaster because of drought conditions.

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Someone dumping chemicals into a Port Coquitlam, B.C., storm drain may have killed thousands of Coho salmon fry in Hyde Creek, according to a local environmental group.Ted Wingrove, president of the Hyde Creek Watershed Society, says thousands of fish have suffocated and burned after being exposed to some sort of unidentified toxic chemical which entered the watershed east of Vancouver.

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On June 24, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) launched a new version of their CanOSH website for information to meet health and safety compliance needs, improve workplace health and safety practices, and reduce workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. The website brings together federal, provincial and territorial resources, to provide convenient access to links and information from government agencies responsible for workplace health and safety, workers compensation boards, and CCOHS.
Source article – Government of Canada, 24 June 2009

On June 24, the Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work commented on the theft of two laptops from the Alberta Health Services (AHS) offices. Mr. Work indicated that it was unacceptable that the data on the laptops’ hard drives was not encrypted. Mr. Work emphasized that the standard for the Alberta government for storing personal or health information on portable devices is encryption. The two laptops were stolen earlier this month and contained health information of more than 300,000 people. The data included names, birth dates, personal health numbers and lab test results for communicable and reportable diseases. Mr. Work indicated that his office will be working very closely with AHS to ensure that steps are taken to prevent similar situations from happening again.
Source article – Government of Alberta, 24 June 2009

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has declared a state of emergency in Manitoba First Nations over the swine flu pandemic.

Canada’s First Nations communities have been hit hard by the H1N1 virus, but there is no consistent approach to the outbreak across the country, Barker told the Senate committee on aboriginal peoples.

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