Penticton chamber asks for more thought on travel bans ahead of wildfire season
Businesses in Penticton are asking the provincial government to avoid economic hardship caused by unnecessary travel bans this wildfire season.
Last year there was a four-day travel ban in the Okanagan which the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce said in an open letter to the Ministry of Emergency Management was harmful and unnecessary .
The letter urges minister Bowinn Ma to be more careful when considering implementing a travel ban this year.
“When minister Ma ordered the travel ban last August, the intent was to open up hotel space for those evacuating West Kelowna’s McDougall Creek Wildfire. If anyone from her ministry had first taken the small step of contacting our municipal government, they would have learned that spaces already available for evacuees were all but empty and should have made them question if ordering such a drastic measure in Penticton and throughout the South Okanagan was necessary,” the chamber’s executive director Michael Magnusson said in the letter.
READ MORE: BC’s lack of snow foretells summer drought woes
The chamber said the ban on Aug. 19, 2023, hurt the tourism industry because it came during the height of the region’s tourism season and caused the cancellation of the Ironman Triathlon resulting in “millions of dollars in lost economic activity.”
"If last year demonstrated anything, it was that a little more information could have prevented a lot of hardship for Penticton and the South Okanagan,” chamber president Nicole Clark said in the letter.
The ban was originally supposed to be in place until Sept. 4, but was lifted only four days later because it was deemed unnecessary.
READ MORE: Non-essential travel banned throughout Okanagan
“The chamber wants to ensure that the provincial government has developed a much more comprehensive process before a measure as serious and economically devastating as a travel ban can be ordered,” Clark said.
The chamber wants the ministry to ensure it uses information from local governments, hotels and motels, and the Evacuee Registration and Assistance site before deciding if a travel ban is required.
“Setting up these kinds of information gathering and analytical tools before we’re into another wildfire season will allow the government to more accurately assess what emergency measures are actually needed,” Magnusson said.
The lower than average snowpack this year creates a higher risk for wildfires, and the chamber said the provincial government ought to be more prepared with effective protocols for measures that will impact the economy.
“With wildfires becoming an annual occurrence, we want to ensure that decisions are made quickly, and also accurately.” Clark said.
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