Emergency Management Program

The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry emergency management program seeks to ensure a proactive, coordinated and comprehensive approach to managing emergencies that may affect the delivery of ministry services or assigned Order-in-Council responsibilities. The latter include: 

• Abandoned mine hazards
• Support to provincial emergency management in Northern Ontario.

MNDM Emergency Response

Under the Emergency Management Act, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry is responsible for:

• Developing an Emergency Response Plan for emergencies that are the direct result of an abandoned mines hazard or any situation that requires the support of provincial emergency management in Northern Ontario;
• Developing a Business Continuity Plan;
• Responding directly to emergencies when the ministry has an assigned responsibility;
• Responding as part of a coordinated provincial emergency response in accordance with the Provincial Emergency Response Plan or as a supporting ministry to a lead ministry.

The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry has prepared an Emergency Response Plan which addresses its responsibilities in assigned areas, and outlines its emergency management organization, notification procedures, emergency response plan activation, and communication plans. The plan helps ensure that a controlled, coordinated, and effective response is quickly undertaken at the outset of an emergency to minimize its impact on public safety.

The ministry has also prepared a Business Continuity Plan that identifies, assesses, and prioritizes the critical functions and services the ministry provides that would need to be restored in the event of a temporary disruption during an emergency situation.

Provincial Emergency Operations Centre

Each level of government responding to emergencies has an Emergency Operations Centre that directs and coordinates the emergency response.

The province, through Emergency Management Ontario (EMO), coordinates its response to emergencies through the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.

A Ministry Action Group directs and coordinates a ministry’s response to an emergency through its Ministry Emergency Operations Centre. The Ministry Action Group is made up of individuals from various branches of a ministry who are assigned the task of coordinating the response to an emergency.

At the local level, a Community Control Group directs and coordinates all operations through a Community Emergency Operations Centre.

The responsibilities of the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Ministry Action Group include:

• Implementing emergency plans as assigned through Order in Council (OIC), and the Business Continuity Plan in the event of service delivery disruptions;
• Coordinating the ministry’s actions when responding to an emergency;
• Liaising with Emergency Response Teams at other government office locations;
• Liaising with the Provincial Emergency Operations Center on all external emergency management issues related to OIC areas of responsibility.