ITS NOT JUST THE RESCUE THE ROLE OF LAW AND COMMUNICATIONS IN MAJOR - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
ITS NOT JUST THE RESCUE THE ROLE OF LAW AND COMMUNICATIONS IN MAJOR INCIDENTS O M A A S p r i n g W o r k s h o p F r i d a y , M a y 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 J o h n S a u n d e r s | H i c k s M o r l e y L L P K a r e n G o r d o n | S q u
THE ROLE OF LAW AND COMMUNICATIONS IN MAJOR INCIDENTS
O M A A S p r i n g W o r k s h o p F r i d a y , M a y 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 J o h n S a u n d e r s | H i c k s M o r l e y L L P K a r e n G o r d o n | S q u e a k y W h e e l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s I n c .
Chief and Deputy Chief 6 Suppression Full-time Firefighters 1 Training Officer 1 Fire Prevention Officer 81 Volunteer Firefighters
Family of four dies in fire Response time questioned Lack of working smoke detectors questioned Dryer operation questioned Home inspection questioned
Dealing w ith a major incident:
Decision maker Operations Communications Government relations Legal counsel
Assemble a crisis team:
Only one spokesperson Determined based on severity of incident Used for all communications Media training/spokesperson training
Determine the Spokesperson:
Who are you talking to? And how do w e reach them? Families Staff Public Mayor/Council Government – Local, Provincial, Federal Regulators Office of the Fire Marshal Others – WCB, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health, Attorney General, Solicitor General
The Audiences
What do w e have to say? What do w e w ant to say? What do w e know ? What do w e NOT know ? What is our story?
Key Messages
Continued media coverage Social media campaigns Support of elected officials can vary Incident can get national attention Incident can get increased political attention In-depth coverage of incident/topic
Between the Incident and the end of the litigation/inquest/inquiry ALL communications have to be viewed within the context of the legal situation.
What to w atch for:
Civil Liability Criminal Charges Coroner’s Inquests Judicial Inquiries
Municipality established and maintained a Fire Department Municipality decided the “needs and circumstances”
Municipality can be held liable, in law, for any damage caused to anyone through the fault of the municipality and/or its employees
Common law duty to take care established Residents are entitled to receive from the Fire Department: best performance they are capable of, given resources Department to respond in a reasonable manner w ithout negligence
Bill C-45 changes to Criminal Code of Canada
creates “organization” liability for action of “senior officers” anyone with authority to direct how another person does work must take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to any person arising from their work
Metron Construction
not enough life lines
Coroner’s Motto
“We speak for the dead to protect the living.”
Investigative Function Social or Prevention Function
Where an inquest is held, it shall inquire into the circumstances of the death and determine, (a) w ho the deceased w as; (b) how the deceased come to his or her death; (c) w hen the deceased came to his or her death; (d) w here the deceased came to his or her death; and (e) by w hat means the deceased came to his or her death.
Answ ered in few words:
The jury shall not make any finding of legal responsibility
The jury may make recommendations directed to the avoidance of death in similar circumstances or respecting any other matter arising out of the inquest.
(1) The identification of the exact circumstances surrounding a death serves to check public imagination and prevents it from becoming irresponsible; (2) Examination of the specific circumstances of a death, and regular analysis of a number of cases, enables the community to be aw are of the factors w hich put human life at risk in given circumstances; and
(3) The care taken by the authorities to inquire into the circumstances, every time a death is not clearly natural or accidental, reassures the public and makes it aw are that the government is acting to ensure that the guarantees relating to human life are duly respected.
5 person Selected by coroner’s constable Names from the jury list Jury members can ask questions Jury findings or verdicts may be made by a majority of Jurors (not unanimous)
Similar to Coroner Inquests except:
conducted by judge not coroner judge makes determination, not jury sometimes public funding is available to assist special interest groups
Create a record Use a scribe Who did w hat w hen? Take pictures – lots Individual statements from firefighters Preserve the tapes
Full inquiry v. Restricted inquiry Take Blame v. Point Blame Admit mistakes? Issue apology?
Why didn’t you call mutual aid? Why did you not conduct a home inspection before the fire? Why did you conduct the fire attack first and not a rescue? Why did the police kick dow n the door? Why is dispatch done by three different bodies?
Conduct your ow n investigation "Law yer Up" – w hose law yer? Joint Retainer Indemnification
Coroner’s Inquest makes 33 recommendations on May 29, 2016 including:
employed in communications, inspection, public education
message
be able to effect a rescue and, therefore ,the public need to be vigilant to ensure their ow n safety
THE ROLE OF LAW AND COMMUNICATIONS IN MAJOR INCIDENTS
O M A A S p r i n g W o r k s h o p M a y 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 J o h n S a u n d e r s | H i c k s M o r l e y L L P K a r e n G o r d o n | S q u e a k y W h e e l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s I n c .