Learning lessons

It may have taken a disaster in the U.S. for the public to notice, but Canada has had an ongoing process looking at its own emergency response. The bad news is that based on a new report, that process hasn't done much good yet:

Granatstein says it's disheartening that no crisis plan melding Canadian military resources has been drafted four years after the terrorist attacks on the United States...

Granatstein's report is a 10-year report card on recommendations made by a special commission in 1995 to improve the lot of part-time soldiers. And while the update found reservists are better paid today, it sounded other alarm bells.

The report notes the Canadian Forces doesn't even have accurate records of its retired specialists and other trained personnel to call upon in a time of crisis...

"This is simply not acceptable. A resource that could and should be invaluable . . . is being squandered for want of direction and will, and a few clerks to keep records up to date."

Based on the report, it appears that Canada has been more lucky than well-prepared when it comes to disasters. While it helps not to have Mike Brown-style patronage in key oversight positions, there's still a serious problem if little is being done to make sure that the knowledge held within the country is easily accessible when needed.

It's great that we're paying attention now. But it'll be the next few years that ultimately determine whether Canada does enough to minimize the downside to potential catastrophes - and it seems all too likely that the issue will disappear again long before any meaningful action is taken. Which would leave us all the more likely to learn the hard way in the future.