VE3HG

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The Wake-Up Call

Posted: 08 Jan 2016 06:08 AM PST
https://ve3hg.wordpress.com/2016/01/...-wake-up-call/


I havent felt much motivation to write here or on any of my other blogs
(Peter West Photo, Peter West Public Relations, Toastmasters, Yoga,
Coaching, VE3HB) what with the holidays and contests and general busyness.

So as I nurse a very sore shoulder injured in a fall down the stairs (Im
okay but Im considering giving up my house cleaning chores) and waiting for
four video renderings to upload to a private DropBox folder for my
Toastmaster club (First Oakville Toastmasters) where we record the three
speeches of the night and the subsequent evaluations, my eye was caught by
a headline in this mornings Globe and Mail.

The article was subtitled Disaster Preparedness and the main headline read:
Victoria earthquake an urgent wake-up call. Here Benjamin Perrin, a law
professor at U of BC and a former public safety adviser for the PMO wrote
that when, not if, B.C. gets hit with a bigger earthquake than the 4.7
magnitude Christmas quake, the results will likely be overwhelming and
deadly.

Perrin suggests that the poor state of schools and hospitals in the area
will likely cause those buildings to collapse in the face of a magnitude 9
or greater quake snuffing out the lives of school children and hospital
patients and staff.

Of course, Perrrin is saying something should be done and hes right.

Here in Canada we get lulled into a sense of it-cant-happen-here thinking
right up to the time it does happen here. Im thinking of the Quebec
ice-storm and Barrie, Ontario tornado. Both were unexpected and deadly.

With our national organization thankfully on deaths door when it comes to
growth let alone the ability to plan for any future perhaps its time for
those who care about emergency preparedness to start to reorganize on a
national basis?