Montreal to host Regional Platform in Americas for Disaster Risk Reduction

Today, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, announced that from March 7-9th 2017, Canada will welcome over 1000 participants from across the Western hemisphere to Montreal, Quebec for the Fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Second Meeting of Ministers and High Level Authorities on the Sendai Framework.

Key outcomes will include the endorsement of a Regional Action Plan to meet the commitments of the United Nation’s Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. This meeting will also provide Canada with an opportunity to learn from our hemispheric colleagues and provide a forum to share innovative solutions to inform policy and program development that is critical to our approach to disaster risk reduction. 

In preparation for the Regional Platform, Canada will host its seventh Annual National Disaster Risk Reduction Roundtable in Montreal on November 21-22, 2016. This year’s Roundtable will focus on “Understanding the Risks”, and will bring together a broad range of stakeholders to share information and best practices in an effort to advance a whole-of-society approach to meeting Canada’s commitments under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. 

Quotes

“We look forward to working with our partners across all sectors of the emergency management community both domestically and among our hemispheric partners to develop an interactive and action-oriented agenda.  It will also allow us to showcase the good work our country is doing to contribute to achieving resilience on local, regional, and global scales.”

- The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

“I am pleased that this important event is taking place here in Quebec. Over the past several years, Quebec has examined the best practices to adopt to increase our resilience to disasters.  It has distinguished itself by adopting a public security policy that promotes better management of risks and disasters. Meetings like this one are an excellent opportunity for Quebec to share its experience and to improve its own practices based on those shared by the participants.” 

- Martin Coiteux, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy, Minister of Public Security, and Minister responsible for the Montreal region.

“The City of Montreal is proud to host this major event, which will be held as part of its 375th anniversary.  Montreal is also one of the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities and actively integrates the principles of urban resilience in order to better prepare for the challenges of the 21st century.”

- Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal