Send us a text

It's controversial.  No getting around it.  To what extent should the government's control over my ability to make a decision be limited?  Vaccine Mandates? Vaccine enforcement?  This is an important discussion that includes the pandemic but is more general, to what extent should the government have the authority to enact regulations that limit my freedoms?  Libertarian, good citizen, compliant sheep?  How do you define yourself in relation to the government?  I discuss how laws are enacted and fought in Canada, bring the discussion to the true definition of mandatory, talk about collective moral imperatives and who defines them and enforces them, followed by a discussion on whether it is right to assign penalties to individuals who are making a legal decision.  If it is legally permissible in the nation to not accept a vaccine, why is it legal to assign a penalty for that decision?  It is a conversation that needs to happen, that we have to muster the courage to begin.  
[email protected]
Intragram: @insidemycanoehead
Twitter: @insidecanoehead

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

This episode we are back to the individual emergency preparedness theme, examining your dependancy on the grid - not just power, but food supply chains and health care.  How do you navigate life when the power is cut for a couple of days in the dead of winter?  Is it society's responsibility to keep you family warm and fed, or yours?  How will you maintain you household systems when all of your utilities are cut off?  These are important questions that need to be addressed and its free.  The introspection and the awesome individual in the mirror is all you need to devise a plan and be prepared to mitigate the disruptions of a modern world.  The food supply chain is having challenges and there are shortages, but your exposure to the global supply chain for food is your resposnvilbity.  Why have you decided to draw food from across the continent or world?  That decision exposes you and your family to risk that is optional.  I draw food locally, other than some wonderful treats from afar, there is absolutely nothing I need that I cannot access within 100 Km of my house.  Choices and your preparedness level and your ability to manage disruption is a choice you make, whether you are aware or not.   

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

The final, other than open debates, episode in the series takes the identified issues in emergency management, with the actors within the space and carves out a roadmap for the field in Canada.  One that does not require additional governance, or new ministries, but leveraging what we have already established and offers a pathway towards greater disaster risk reduction.  Specific discussion on mitigation, preparedness messaging, surge capacity, coordination and DFAA funding are included in the analysis.  So lets solve the actual problems, without creating a monster that will successfully eat hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars without saving a life.  Thats what a Canadian FEMA would do.

[email protected]
@insidemycanoehead Instragram
@insidecanoehead Twitter

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

Today we are faced with a stark choice - there are friends, colleagues and neighbours who have made the legal, at least for now, choice to not accept a vaccination or who have opposing views on government control of our lives.  This is not about the right or wrong or vaccinations or mandates.  This is about maintaining the fabric of our society, which is the relationships that include those with whom we disagree, have different medical opinions and those with whom we have pre-covid relationships.  Our society has the potential to degrade into an us and them - a victim mentality driven & responsibility assigning orientation that assumes the pandemic and the consequences are driven by someone else's actions and therefore I am oppressed and not responsible.  That is a very dangerous place and establishes potential permanent gaps in our society, ones that we may not be able to bridge in the future.  In Canada, an estimated 1.2 million voting age adults have chosen not to accept a vaccine.  Do we really want to label them as contributing too our problems and pariahs to society?  That doesn't end well, ever.  

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

The first episode in this series defined the problem, the second offered some institutional perspective and potential solutions.  This week's contribution is the discussion of the actors within the space or phenomenon of emergency management.  It is important to consider that there are more than the emergency managers involved in these discussions, but that they are the executors of the outcomes.  So I posit that there are four main actors within the space: emergency managers, academics, experts and policy makers.  Each has an important role, orientation and perspective - lens, or theoretical viewpoint from which they participate in and contribute to the advancement of the phenomenon.  Hence, I discuss each, offer their value and discuss their collaboration - or lack there of, in the current context.  This is critical because as the follow on episode will outline a specific and defendable solution to the defined problems, we must agree and discuss what the roles for each actors are within the space and how they will be employed, leveraged and eventually contribute to the goal: improving society.  
[email protected]
Instagram: @insidemycanoehead
Twitter: @insidecanoehead

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

It has been quite a year, with the pandemic, the great resignation and the supply chain crisis.  Throughout this year, we as individuals have made choices - are we a victim, do things happen to us, is it the government's responsibility to pay my rent when I cannot.  Or, we choose self reliance, where we prepare for all that could happen and we make sound choices based upon our own capabilities and goals.  This year exposed a great deal about ourselves.  It was also a year of incredible opportunities to pursue that dream, to make that leap of faith in ourselves.  We are capable of so much more than we do, so why not leap?  What does your 2022 have in store for you and your family.  What are your goals?  Time to not make resolutions, but think about achievable goals for 2022 - get out your scratch pad or your whiteboard and draw the life you want for next year.  Then make it happen.  Simple and achievable.  Happy New Year, sincere thanks for your loyalty and together we will make 2022 the year of pivoting to self reliance and the life we want.  

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

Preparedness over the holidays shouldn't be your primary focus.  Enjoy, consume, eat and all those things that everyone tells you is not good for you - but what if?  Think about the simple animalistic considerations - shelter, food, water.  If you're staying in your country, no real worries as long as you are prepared to walk home from wherever you are.  If you are travelling to another country in this pandemic, and I completely understand why, then make sure you are prepared to deal with a positive PCR test for COVID in a foreign nation.  How do you survive when you cannot stay on the resort and are forced into the local community.  What are the rules - what are the expectations from the local and national government - how do you get healthcare.  Take the time to consider these and then go have a fantastic vacation.  Enjoy the holidays, we have all earned it!

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

After much response and discourse, Part 2 to this series discusses what are the main issues within Canadian emergency management and potential solutions that are achievable within the current framework.  Only in rare cases is additional funding required, for the majority it is to come to agreement on what the actual issues are and then look for internal and available solutions.  At the marco level, they are public peer review of necessary mitigation measures, which are then funded / not funded by the Federal Govt within the existing funding models for national infrastructure.  Second, flood, wildfire and evacuation mapping is abysmal in this nation and it is the only issue that actually requires additional funding - do this, information forms the foundation of further decision making.  Improved coordination and the discussion on how to construct the necessary surge human resource capability within the nation.  Finally, utilizing existing regulatory systems to mandate build back better as law in order to ensure that all measures are taken, or damaged property becomes park land.  Your comments are most welcome.
[email protected]
@insidecanoehead Twitter
@insidemycanoehead Instagram

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

Fantastic guest this week to talk about her journey into preparedness, a real world example of the ups and downs of becoming more self reliant.  Lynn is the talent behind Bucketlisthomestead, a Youtube Channel and on other social media.  She provides a unique and wholesome view into the balance of life with a family, health and living through a pandemic on a small acreage, carving out an awesome life for her family.  It is through the honestly, sincerity and stories of people like Lynn that we understand preparedness is a life long journey where you are never really there, but we try our best to be able to thrive, not just survive.  Have a listen, visit Lynn's channel and subscribe to help out an incredible soul.

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca

Send us a text

With the current context of floods in BC, fires across the west, drought in the fields and potential hurricanes in the east, Canadians are being fed the notion that there is a lack of something in the emergency management field - in other words, we could be doing far better to help our citizens, mitigate hazards and overall preparedness and response.  The default for some academics et al are to call for a US style FEMA to be established in Canada to direct, manage and help mitigate the coming effects of climate change and the increased frequency of disasters.  
My bias is clear, there is no current or former issue that has been successfully addressed by the creation of a new public agency, employing thousands of public servants and consuming huge swaths of the public purse.  
But before we provide a remedy, we need to properly define the problem.  In this episode, I cover governance - who is responsible for what in Canada, the structure of the current Federal system with regards to emergency management.  Then I outline within each of the four pillars of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery what are the shortfalls and offer some thoughts on how to address them.  
The next episode will take this ground work and present two solutions: Morphing Emergency Preparedness at the Federal Level to a FEMA style agency and addressing the issues within the current structure - join me for that awesome second part.  

Support the show

www.insidemycanoehead.ca