[SARA-Members] Meeting with Ministers

Tue Jul 7 18:58:44 MDT 2009

Hi,

Over the last month there has been a lot of media interest surrounding the
lawsuit involving Golden Search and Rescue and the subsequent withdrawal of
Golden SAR's services.  SAR Alberta has been pressing the insurance issue
with government of Alberta both through AEMA and the Minister's office.
Meetings were also held with the Solicitor General,  and MP and federal
Minister of Labour Rona Ambrose.  Following are summaries of each of those
meetings. 

SAR Alberta will also be sending out a letter to all the MLA's in the
province explaining how SAR works in this province and the important role
search and rescue has at a community level. We are encouraging all teams to
contact their MLA's this summer to discuss with them the various issues
around SAR.

Don Drebert and myself also meet with Colin Lloyd of AEMA and discussed how
our two organizations can better move forward. I will be sending out a
separate email that summarizes that discussion.

If you have any questions on the information below please contact your
regional rep or myself.

Sincerely,

Monica Ahlstrom

President SAR Alberta

Meetings with Ministers

Over the last two weeks meetings have been held with two provincial
Ministers and one federal one on the insurance issue. Following are
summaries of those meetings.

Ministers 

Minister Ray Danyluk - Minister for Municipal Affairs

Alberta Emergency Management Agency  (AEMA) falls under his portfolio

June 24, 2009

On June 24 VP Don Drebert and President Monica Ahlstrom met with Minister
Danyluk to discuss the insurance issue in regard to search and rescue. Two
of the Minister's staff members were also present. We presented the Minister
with the insurance coverage options available for search and rescue from the
SARVAC program that was set up in conjunction with Algoma insurance. Algoma
has quoted that to cover all the teams in the province with liability
insurance, directors and officers insurance and extended disability it would
cost around $75,000 plus tax for $2 million liability or around $90,000 plus
tax for $5 million liability. We also mentioned that there was a initiative
underway by SARVAC to have the insurance covered nationally.

Minister Danyluk noted that he did not want to duplicate service as it was
his understanding that individuals are covered when they are tasked by the
RCMP and the municipalities. This is not entirely true - the RCMP policy
from Ottawa does provide for coverage for various volunteers when under the
direction of the RCMP and search and rescue would be under that coverage -
so according to the RCMP there would be liability protection - but only when
you are tasked. Golden is being sued for not responding - they didn't
respond because they were not tasked.. So they therefore would not be
covered. There also needs to be more research on whether or not you are
covered when you are tasked by the EPS or Calgary Police. The coverage also
does not extend to the society itself which is considered a legal entity
under the law. So if you are an individual on a board you would not be
covered if you did not have extra insurance.

The Minister was also told that you are covered by the municipality when you
go out on a disaster. In speaking with Jubilee Insurance - this may not be
the case either, SAR Groups that have coverage with Jubilee are definitely
covered but how groups are covered by a municipality when they are tasked
needs to be clarified, at least to SAR Alberta and the groups. It was
pointed out that it may be cheaper in the long run to have every team in the
province covered by the Algoma or another broad policy than to try and fix
all the gaps that exist by individual policies.

Though we asked the Minister to consider the Algoma insurance coverage for
the whole province - it was decided that some time would be spent looking at
all the options and what is actually going on now. A number of teams do have
insurance coverage through Jubilee insurance which is an insurance program
set up by the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties. The
teams under this policy have at least $15 million coverage - Jubilee is
looking at their coverage to ensure that there are no gaps for search and
rescue volunteers.  Having all the teams covered by Jubilee may be another
option.

The Minister also noted that a bill is being put forward, Bill 49, that will
protect volunteer fire fighters from being sued in the first place. There
was some suggestion that this could be an option for SAR as well. 

Because the insurance issue is complex we agreed that SAR Alberta will work
with the Executive Assistant to the Minister Ethan Bayne, and with the
Executive Director of Operations for AEMA Colin Lloyd, to research all the
options and find a solution. 

However, the issue can't drag out for any length of time as it is neither
fair nor appropriate for the government to expect SAR groups and individuals
to continue to expose themselves to the risk of a lawsuit without support.
Colin Lloyd, has committed to working on this issue directly -however, he is
away until the 13th of July.  The Minister's Assistant has been researching
the issue as have I.  By the end of July there should be some meaningful
decision made on this issue. SAR Alberta will seek written confirmation on
all the insurance issues and policies.

Outcomes:

1.	AEMA, the Ministers Office and SAR Alberta will research all the
options and come up with a solution to the insurance issue. 
2.	SAR Alberta is and will remain under Municipal Affairs through AEMA
- and AEMA will work with SAR Alberta to give search and rescue the
administrative support it needs 

Overall it was a positive first meeting with a willingness on all parts to
work through the insurance issue

Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security Fred Lindsay 

June 30, 2009

Minister Fred Lindsay - SAR Alberta President Monica Ahlstrom

Minister Lindsay and I met on June 30 to discuss the SAR insurance issue.
Minister Lindsay happens to be the MLA for the region in which I live. He
was interested in the insurance issue and was given the information on the
Algoma insurance. He asked if Minister Danyluk had offered to cover the cost
of the insurance.  I noted that all the options were being reviewed and that
Minister Danyluk was trying to avoid duplication of coverage. Minister
Lindsay understood that but suggested we get everything in writing from all
parties involved, including the RCMP. 

I asked that the Solicitor General and his department make a conscious
effort to stay in the loop with search and rescue as we are a major resource
for the police in this province. He asked that he be kept informed on the
insurance issue and had asked for more information on the work SAR does in
particular in respect to evidence searches. 

I will be gathering that information, with help from the statistics Rodney
Dietrich gathered earlier, and will be sending Minister Lindsay the
information early next week.

MP and Minister of Labour Rona Ambrose

SAR Alberta President  and Past President SARVAC - Monica Ahlstrom 

July 2, 2009

Minister Ambrose is the federal Member of Parliament for the area in which I
live. She was interested in knowing more about the insurance issue - not
only from a provincial perspective but also from a federal one.

I gave her an overview of the situation in Alberta and SAR Alberta's meeting
with Minister Danyluk - she suggested that I also meet with Solicitor
General Fred Lindsay - and was glad to hear that I had already done that.

The discussion centered around SARVAC and the role that it plays nationally
and how their could be a national solution to the insurance issue through
the National SAR Champion - the RCMP.  She was interested in the various
political entities involved in SAR at the federal level and noted that
having an agency like the National Search and Rescue Secretariat could help
cut through the many jurisdictional issues at the federal level. She noted
jurisdictional issues are a common problem that affect a lot of issues
within government. 

She has asked her staff to pass on information around the insurance issue to
the Minister of Public Safety - the RCMP fall under that Ministry federally.
She is also going to encourage that Minister to meet with the President of
SARVAC to discuss the insurance issue and the issue of the national champion
for GSAR. She noted she will be watching to see how the issue is handled in
Alberta as well.

SARVAC will be sending me some follow up information to pass on to Minister
Ambrose.

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