On Monday, January 22, the towns of Pincourt, Très-Saint-Rédempteur and Pointe-Fortune formalized their intermunicipal civil protection agreement. This is the first time in Quebec that such an agreement has been put in place. The official signing took place during a 5 à 7, to which several guests were invited.

The Entente intermunicipale en sécurité civile proposes an innovative approach that will enable each municipality to confirm its compliance with the Loi sur la sécurité civile and its related regulations, in order to ensure a planned, adapted and coordinated response for their respective communities, in the event of a real or imminent disaster. 

"This intermunicipal civil protection initiative marks a significant step forward in the collaboration, sharing and mobilization of resources, testifying to our unwavering commitment to the protection of our population," said Pincourt mayor Claude Comeau. 

The agreement between Pincourt, Très-Saint-Rédempteur and Pincourt will include a multi-municipal committee responsible for planning. This committee will be made up of elected officials and the general managers of the signatory municipalities, and will propose orientations based on the four dimensions of civil protection: prevention, preparation, response and recovery.

Asked why such an agreement was signed when the three municipalities are separated by dozens of kilometers, Très-Saint-Rédempteur mayor Julie Lemieux is unequivocal. "We share the same vision of civil protection. What's more, our geographical locations give us a certain advantage.If an event happens in one place, say Pincourt, it doesn't necessarily mean it will happen at the same time in Pointe-Fortune.That said, I think it's really our shared vision of civil protection and the fact that we believe, in the context in which we live, that civil protection must be the number one priority".

Pointe-Fortune mayor François Bélanger agrees. "The Municipality of Pointe-Fortune was looking for a civil protection partner that would share its vision of vigilance during periods of extreme weather, communicate to our citizens the importance of civil protection issues and the need to prepare for them, and be associated with a dedicated team with proven expertise in this area. We found it with the Town of Pincourt."

"This agreement demonstrates the importance of contribution in civil protection. We have here three municipalities that have decided to join forces to benefit from this intermunicipal contribution, but also from the citizens, which is necessary in civil protection. This is an innovative initiative that proves that small municipalities are perfectly capable of taking charge of civil protection and joining forces. This agreement will undoubtedly serve as a springboard for other municipalities to join or create new ones," says Yannick Hémond, Master's Director and Professor of Resilience, Risk and Disasters at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

"We've heard that other cities are interested in joining the agreement.We're going to start the three together, but we're hoping it will snowball and other cities further afield will come on board," added Mayor Comeau.

Climate change at the heart of the agreement

The growing number of weather-related disasters calls for more measures to meet, inform, support and empower citizens in their disaster preparedness. The alliance between the three cities will support this new reality and share responsibility for civil protection.

The new organization provides for integrated governance and the establishment of a watch to monitor extreme weather events in real time.

In addition, the Agreement provides for the development of a multi-municipal civil protection plan, which will include specific intervention plans, a training plan adapted to the environment and scenarios for elected officials and employees, as well as a risk awareness and communication plan for the population. 

The Agreement also provides for the pooling of real estate, material and human resources to reduce costs for each of the municipal organizations.

To implement the Agreement, municipalities will be able to count on the expertise of Éric Martel. He will act as Civil Security Manager. With over 20 years' experience in fire and civil protection, Mr. Martel holds an advanced diploma specializing in major risk management. In recent years, Éric Martel has been able to put his expertise to good use in the region, notably during the 2017 and 2019 floods in Rigaud.

"We need to move to a different kind of culture with the population. We need to get away from the welfare state and move towards a way of empowering citizens.The governance of the new structure and agreement is holistic, and based on the primary foundation of civil security in Quebec, which is the principle of shared responsibility. Since our concerns lie first and foremost with our citizens, I have been given the mandate, starting this year, to build bridges with them, to raise their awareness and reach out to them.With my colleagues, we are going to develop a portal dedicated to civil protection, which will be accessible to all citizens of the three municipalities concerned," he emphasized.

A mass alert system

Over the coming weeks, major efforts will be made to integrate the population data held by each municipality into this new system. Citizens will soon be able to subscribe to the system, details of which will be announced shortly. 

It should be noted that this automated system will enable the population to be reached by telephone, e-mail and text messaging. Thanks to mapping and geomatic tools, it will also be possible to target an area, or even the properties in a given area.

It is important to note that the automatic call system will only be used if the safety of people and property is threatened by an actual or imminent disaster.What's more, confidential data stored on the system will be protected in accordance with the provisions of the Act to modernize the legislative provisions governing the protection of personal information in the private sector.