Building Resilience: Leadership and Accountability

Organizations and communities need effective leadership to respond to an emergency successfully. But crises are becoming increasingly complex, often involving terrorism, infectious diseases, cyber-crime or widespread natural disasters. As the threats we face have evolved, so too has the need for multiple organizations to respond simultaneously to them. The range of responding organizations extends beyond conventional first responders – police, fire, and emergency management – and increasingly includes organizations from multiple levels of government and the private sector. This growth has compounded the difficulty of establishing effective leadership in an emergency. This report – one of a series that discusses effective governance in relation to security and safety incidents – focuses on leadership and accountability. It urges Canadian leaders to adopt a national incident management system; pre-select leaders when possible; base leadership selections on experience; ensure that local leaders are involved in responses; and conduct frequent training exercises.