In post-disaster rebuilding, government needs to get out of the way: Jerome Gessaroli in the Financial Post – MLI

April 19, 2024

The Great Vancouver Fire of 1886 and the devastating fire in Lytton, B.C., in 2021 provide instructive examples of communities responding to catastrophes and rebuilding.

Recent wildfires and flooding in British Columbia highlight the need for swift recovery, repair and adaptation to avert future losses. Today’s governments have the regulatory authority and financial resources to help the farmers, businesses and property-owners with recovery. But despite generous expressions of support and empathy and repeated promises of funding, slow government responses to such disasters expose the public to further losses from future events.

Things weren’t always this way. The Great Vancouver Fire of 1886 and the devastating fire in Lytton, B.C., in 2021 provide instructive examples of communities responding to catastrophes and rebuilding. In each case, fire’s speed and intensity laid waste to a community. But the two recoveries differed markedly and in ways that shed light on the roles of individual initiative and government intervention in getting economic recovery done.

Read More: https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/in-post-disaster-rebuilding-government-needs-to-get-out-of-the-way-jerome-gessaroli-in-the-financial-post/