Flood management in Canada at the crossroads

Abstract

Although Canadian flood management efforts have gained worldwide recognition, flood damages continue to increase. The current practice for preventing, responding to and recovering from floods in Canada is described by focusing attention on the 1997 Red River and 1996 Saguenay River floods. A set of cultures is identified that contribute to the trend of increasing flood damages. These include a culture of conflict, a culture of land development, a culture that impeded native people from easily implementing flood management programs, a culture of institutional fragmentation and a culture of dependency. These foster an inevitable cycle of increasing flood damages. The potential of recent proposals made by Emergency Preparedness Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada to address these cultures is assessed. While these documents represent significant progress, they continue to adopt an intermittent project rather an ongoing program perspective, fail to identify the need to adopt specific initiatives tailored for aboriginal communities, and ignore the need to enhance the operational capacity of relevant public and private participants. Addressing these requirements will further reduce future losses and vulnerability.