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Protecting even the smallest of villages in Saskatchewan’s Fertile Valley

Published: September 10, 2020

Village of Conquest is preparing for anything with a new emergency response plan

When it comes to emergency response preparedness, it really does take a village.

Nestled in the Saskatchewan prairies between the towns of Outlook and Rosetown, and just a short drive away from the beautiful Lake Diefenbaker, lies the village of Conquest.

Home to only 161 residents, the village was recently tasked with creating a new Emergency Response Plan (ERP) to prepare for when disaster hits.

It seems fitting due to the current global pandemic—but an ERP covers everything from natural disasters, extreme weather and wildfires to missing persons and knowing who the vulnerable citizens in the community are should an emergency arise. What’s more, it involves responding in tandem with neighboring communities, as well as local—and sometimes provincial—emergency responders.

With only one staff member responsible for all administrative duties for the village—including finance and grant funding, human resources, asset management, infrastructure projects, taxation, bylaws and local elections, to name a few—taking on the task of developing an ERP is something that administrator Bobbi Jones has struggled to find time for.

“Years ago, we did have an emergency response plan, because the provincial government requires all municipalities to have one,” says Jones, who has been the village administrator for five years. “It has been many years, and I don’t think we realized how huge the task would be to create a new one.”

Local governments in places like Conquest have a declining taxpayer base, failing infrastructure and limited funds to provide for the services to support the well-being of their residents. With recent help from Enbridge, the municipality has secured third-party support to create its ERP, which will serve both the village and the Rural Municipality of Fertile Valley No. 285 that it’s seated in.

In the environment created by COVID-19, Jones says the pandemic changed the way the municipality thinks about emergency response planning.

“It has made us think about what we would do if one of us was directly impacted. Because municipal staff are considered essential workers, we don’t always have backup in place to take over responsibilities should someone fall ill—and work like water and sewer services, waste pickup and snow removal all still needs to be done regardless of a pandemic,” says Jones. “Creating this ERP now has us thinking of the big picture and trying to best prepare for every possible situation to keep our communities safe.”

Without a hospital in the village, coupled with a lean team running the municipality’s essential services, the village of Conquest must be careful how it manages and responds to all emergencies alongside the local voluntary fire department.

As part of Enbridge’s commitment to improving the quality of life in the communities where we operate, we recently gave $5,000 to the village of Conquest to help develop its ERP and train an incoming emergency response coordinator.

Once the ERP is completed, Jones says the municipality’s next challenge will be to hire an emergency coordinator who’ll have a shared role in managing and executing the emergency response plan for the village and RM, and conducting any training to other staff in the local government.

“We were able to save a tremendous amount of time being able to have the ability to contract this work out so we could meet provincial requirements as quick as possible,” said Jones. “Enbridge has been nothing but amazing with supporting our community, and is in regular contact with us and the Rural Municipality on an ongoing basis.”

And while Jones says her job as administrator has been one of her most challenging, she believes strongly in making a positive difference in people’s lives.

“This emergency response plan will ensure that we are prepared in the event of a local emergency,” says Jones. “At the end of the day, it will help make Conquest a safe place for people to live, work and visit.”

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