The domination of regulatory agencies by the very organizations they regulate — instead of the public interest — must be overcome. It requires leadership at all levels of government.
Damage from a tornado is seen in Dunrobin, Ont., west of Ottawa, in September 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Governments and the media remain focused on responding to disasters, not preventing or preparing for them. Here’s what must change — and will and won’t work — as Canada faces increased disaster risks.
Jordanian forensics experts inspect the site of a chlorine gas explosion in the Port of Aqaba in June 2022.
Khalil Mazraawi/AFP via Getty Images
Chlorine is a widely used industrial chemical that’s frequently a factor in toxic accidents and workplace injuries. A pharmaceutical expert explains why it’s so hazardous.
Disasters affect all, human and non-human alike. It is imperative that we consider the harms to non-human life and ecosystems as both a moral obligation and a realistic effort to preserve the ecosystem services upon which we all rely.
(Jesse Brothers/Sioux City Journal via AP)
Focusing solely on humans at the expense of other life in the aftermath of train derailments limits the effectiveness of our disaster response management.
Smoke rises from destroyed railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Que., the day after the derailment and explosion killed 47 people.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Lac-Mégantic haunts rail transportation in North America. Here’s a look at how little has changed when it comes to rail safety since the disaster in rural Québec10 years ago.
A deadly train derailment that killed three workers is shown near Field, B.C., in February 2019. Railways have their own police forces that place them in a conflict of interest when they investigate their employers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
The federal government must implement a railway policing law that helps restore public confidence in law enforcement and provides justice to the families of those who die on the job.
In this March 2019 photo, rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crash south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Deregulation is playing a role in transportation disasters.
AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene
High-profile rail and aerospace disasters of recent years have been the deadly consequence of the systematic erosion of safety precautions due to deregulation.
The recent train derailment in B.C. was one of a rash of high-profile derailments in Canada since the beginning of 2019. While none compares in magnitude with Lac-Mégantic, they evoke disturbing parallels to that tragedy.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh