Constituency Office Business Continuity Planning: Alberta MLAs and Staff Share Stories From Wildfire Evacuations

Over the past decade, wild rose country has periodically become wildfire country as uncontrolled blazes forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate in communities surrounding Fort McMurray and Jasper National Park. Although MLAs and constituency office staff must leave alongside everyone else, the need for their services doesn’t disappear during these times of crisis – it often increases greatly. In this article, the author explains how Alberta’s Legislative Assembly Office provides assistance to MLAs and their staff when natural disasters disrupt regular operations and shares some of their personal stories from past events.

Rhonda Sorensen

Rhonda Sorensen is Manager of Communications Services at the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

In Alberta, the Legislative Assembly Office (LAO) is a nonpartisan office that exists to support Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in their duties.

In the event of natural disasters, the office is a resource for MLAs and constituency offices to lean on. Through advice and the provision of technology to enable mobile contact or setting up temporary offices if needed, the LAO is committed to doing what it can to support Members and staff who may suddenly find themselves in the midst of a crisis caused by natural disasters.

The LAO has a policy in place to provide funding support to constituencies affected by natural disasters. Contingency funding, up to $10,000, is available to ensure that impacted areas have resources in place to provide adequate staffing in their constituencies to meet the increased volume of inquiries from constituents. Key components of the policy include funding for costs associated with constituency office staff working beyond normal working hours as well as funding for additional wage staff.

Alberta has faced several natural disasters over the years and at the heart of any Business Continuity Plan will always be the safety and support for our people.

On May 3, 2016, 88,000 people were evacuated from Fort McMurray. Two young lives were lost in a motor vehicle accident during the evacuation. One of the lives lost was the daughter of one of the 1,110 firefighters battling the blaze that consumed 589,995 hectares of land. The same area would face another partial evacuation in the summer of 2024.

On July 22, 2024, at nearly 10 p.m. an evacuation order was received for the municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park. More than 20,000 people safely exited the area while a devastating wildfire destroyed one- third of the town of Jasper resulting in insured losses exceeding $880 million. Only one year prior many other areas of the West Yellowhead constituency faced evacuation due to wildfires throughout the season.

Behind all these numbers are very personal stories – stories of triumph and tragedy, stories of chaos, confusion, kindness, and community. Some of these stories belong to the Members of the Legislative Assembly and their constituency staff, who are committed to helping constituents navigate through recovery while, at the same time, dealing with the realities of how natural disasters have affected their own friends, families, communities, and themselves.

Fort McMurray

Surrounded by boreal forest, the city of Fort McMurray sits within the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo in northeast Alberta. The area is represented by two Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (MLA): Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals and MLA for Fort McMurry-Lac La Biche, and Tany Yao, deputy government whip and MLA for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. At the time of the 2016 wildfires both men had been elected only one year prior. They worked out of the same office and were both supported by constituency assistant Vaughn Jessome who would soon have his own first-hand experience in evacuation in what he described as a “one-of-a-kind experience during which the unknown is the hardest part.”

Before serving as an MLA Yao had spent 20 years dedicated to emergency response services fulfilling various roles throughout his career. In 2016, Mr. Jean was serving as the Official Opposition Leader. Both MLAs were in Edmonton for the Assembly’s spring sitting in 2016.

Brian Jean’s Story

During Oral Question Period on May 3, 2016, Jean was debating recent budget cuts to wildfire management saying, “This is serious. It’s only May, and we can’t just hope for wet weather to come around and to help. We need to get these decisions right.” Before the afternoon sitting was over, Jean received word that his own home was on fire in Fort McMurray.

To begin to understand the depths of loss and devastation for Brian Jean and his family, who have been pillars of the Fort McMurray community dating back generations, first it’s important to understand what motivated him to enter provincial politics the year before the 2016 fires.

As a lawyer in Fort McMurray, Jean was elected as a Member of Parliament and served from 2004 to 2014. After resigning from the House of Commons, he was elected in Alberta as leader of the Wildrose Party in March of 2015.

Jean’s motivation to enter provincial politics was his strong desire to fix the healthcare system in Alberta after watching his son Michael, 24, succumb to cancer.

“My son had died the year before,” remembers Jean. “This brings up a lot of traumas as I had watched him dying for eight months. He was 24 years old and died in the healthcare system after being misdiagnosed three times.”

“You can imagine how difficult it was to carry on with the leadership race while this was happening,” he said.

But Jean did carry on and became the leader of the Wildrose Party. The Wildrose would form the Official Opposition following the provincial election on May 5, 2015.

Just one year later Jean would receive more devastating news as he learned his own home and so many of his memories with his son had been destroyed.

As he and his colleague Tany Yao drove toward Fort McMurray on May 3, 2016, he was in contact with his mom, brothers, nieces and nephews. Jean, who is the youngest of 11 children, explained that his mom was not only the matriarch of his family but also a matriarch of the Fort McMurray community, and she did not want to evacuate. His brothers were able to make sure she got out safely.

When Jean and Yao reached the community, they did whatever they could to help. “A lot of it is just common sense and doing what needs to be done. Doing the right thing.”

Jeans feels strongly that people need more flexibility to protect themselves and their property and that people need to elect their legislators carefully.

“You can cause a lot of pain if you get policy wrong,“ said Jean. “Suicides, mental stresses: we are still a community in a lot of pain.”

Jean lost his mother not long after the fires, and also lost a sister, but through all the personal pain he continues to work hard because he believes it is important.

“I am tired,” said Jean. “I am a human being and will always be on the side of my client, and right now my client is the people of Alberta.”

He feels that something will happen again but believes the reaction can make all the difference.

Tany Yao’s Story

Because of his experience in emergency management. Tany Yao had been in contact with firefighters to see what was happening as he had been hearing some worst-case scenarios. But, at that time, it was felt that the fire was a good distance away from the community.

“It was only one day and several hours later that Brian [Jean] was getting notification that his house was burning and so he said, “Let’s go,” and so we literally left the Legislature right in the middle of a sitting,” said Yao.

He went on to describe that he and Jean hopped into his vehicle. They stopped at Yao’s Edmonton home because all his bunker gear was there, and his first instincts were that of an emergency responder.

“I was still processing everything, but Brian [Jean] had the awareness that we should be buying sleeping bags and supplies for our own accommodation,“ said Yao. “Nothing can prepare you for a widespread evacuation and seeing your own community burn up, but at the same time, for me, there was a lot of confusion because as a former first responder, I was used to having more information and knowing exactly what was going on. To be on the outside of that was difficult.”

“I was prepared to go and help out and Brian pulled me back, reminding me it was no longer my role. Brian was very sympathetic to all the folks as he had lost his own home and I felt extremely sorry for him as he had just lost his son as well and everything that was associated with his son burned up in that fire, so you can imagine his grief.”

The two stopped by a Canadian Tire on the way out of town to pick up camping gear, food, and supplies. It was a very quiet drive and Yao described it as surreal to see all the people leaving town as they drove toward the community. He said the road had just been twinned but there was a portion that had not been which was creating a bit of a bottle neck and it was disorienting.

“The fire really scared a lot of people, and when we had to evacuate again in the summer of 2024, it confirmed that thought and hurts the reputation of the community.”

While there might not be much that people can do to fully prepare for a natural disaster Yao said that it is important to keep your wits about you and sift through the good and bad information to get accurate information out there to help other people. While social media played a role in disseminating incorrect information, it also was a critical tool for the MLAs. They were able to stop incorrect information from spreading more widely, and as trusted sources in the community, they ensured accurate information was available to people.

Vaughn Jessome’s Story

While Brian Jean and Tany Yao were heading towards the community to help, their constituency assistant Vaughn Jessome was one of the 88,000 people filing out to find safety.

“It’s not so much what you hear about what is going on as it is about what you see,” said Jessome.

He explained that on May 3, as he was going into a local restaurant at lunch, he could see some smoke in the distance over the hills. By the time he came out, the air was filled with smoke, and as people evacuated, all that could be seen was red flames.

“I first drove north and then south,“ said Jessome. “It took eight hours to drive the equivalent of what should take 50 minutes.”

He said that when he left, he thought it was for a couple of days. He ended up in Westlock, and then made his way to Edmonton.

“By Monday I was working out of the Legislature Building in Edmonton and fielding up to 300 calls a day, connecting with constituents, insurance companies and Alberta Works. Normally the call volume is about 10 per cent of that.”

He explained that different areas of the community were let back in at different times, but there were no hotel rooms as they were filled with firefighters.

“It took about a week and a half to get people back, but the heavy smoke remained for weeks after that and was almost edible.”

Jessome said that it was after people were back that the real work began. The Alberta SPCA had gone in to rescue as many pets as possible. All the residents had to have their refrigerators removed and replaced. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges was navigating different levels of insurance coverage and the construction companies springing up overnight that were looking to take advantage of people.

“Our local homebuilders were real bright spots for the community,” said Jessome. “Some of our local firefighters wrote books. Their own homes were at risk or burning as they worked to save someone else’s home.”

Jessome said that upon hearing about the fire in Jasper National Park in the summer of 2024, they immediately reached out to West Yellowhead MLA Martin Long and his constituency office.

Jasper National Park and West Yellowhead Constituency

Bordering the Rocky Mountains, the constituency of West Yellowhead is located in west-central Alberta. Largely rural, the constituency includes the communities of Whitecourt, Hinton, Jasper, Grande Cache and Edson. The constituency office is located in Edson.

Representing the area since 2019, MLA Martin Long’s bid for re-election in 2023 faced an unexpected turn when the town of Edson, including his constituency office assistants Cynthia Matsson and Marsha Jensen, had to be evacuated only days after the election writ had been issued.

One year later the constituency would be coordinating with all levels of government as 32,500 hectares in Jasper National Park burned forcing thousands of residents, foreign workers, and tourists out of the mountain resort town. One-third of the community’s infrastructure was reduced to rubble.

Martin Long’s Story

If you have never seen the aftermath of a fire, it is hard to describe it as anything but surreal. The 2024 Jasper National Park fire was not the first that Mr. Long had seen, but the images he describes are haunting.

“I drove in from the east side of town, and at first you think, ‘oh, it looks normal,’ and you think ‘how remarkable.’ Then you drive into a residential area, and it is like a bomb had gone off, just demolished. Then you see a white picket fence across the street from the hospital and wonder how it is still there. The rest is just smouldering pieces of wood and then other areas are completely missing. You see some neighbourhoods where one house is standing and everything around it is wiped out. For the mayor, his house was the only one that burned down in his neighbourhood.”

Long said that standing on the roof of the hospital had the most impact on him was. “We walked into the hospital from the back entrance and all around the hospital on the ground there were massive embers that were obviously just flying in every direction.”

“There was an actual fire on the hospital roof that night,” he said. “Thankfully the firefighters prioritized that, but to stand on that roof really hammered home for me what those folks actually faced.”

Long said: “If you looked to the left, you would see the firehall and down the street was the town office and recreation centre. All of that was intact. But when you turn to the right you see a hole where the United Church used to stand and this entire neighbourhood that is completely demolished.”

While he understood the decisions made to save the critical infrastructure, he stood in awe of the firefighters who made that their priority, knowing that some of them lived in the neighbourhood across the street and would have seen their own homes and possessions burning out of the corner of their eye.

Long and his constituency staff had a lot of empathy for what the people of Jasper experienced and what they continue to go through as they recover and rebuild. The previous spring they, too, had to evacuate their communities and understood very well the feelings of helplessness.

 

The year before the fire in Jasper National Park, Long’s constituency staff in Edson evacuated to Hinton. Since he was in Edson for meetings, and due to highway closures to Whitecourt, Long was also evacuated to Hinton.

“It became very clear to me that while people did understand that there was an election going on, they didn’t understand that I was technically not their MLA,” said Long. “I personally don’t announce myself as the MLA. I am just Martin, and I want to help these people I have made connections with, regardless of whether it is an election period or not. Campaigning was not even on my mind at that time.”

“It’s about people and meeting them where they are at and just doing the right thing and going about it the right way,” he said.

Cynthia Matsson’s Story

The election writ was issued May 1, 2023, at which point MLA Martin Long was no longer an MLA, but the constituency office was to remain open to assist constituents as needed while Long and other candidates hit the campaign trail for a month. Four days later those plans would change.

On May 5 the town of Edson and other communities were ordered to evacuate until May 8. A second evacuation took place from June 9 to June 15.

“I was scared,” said constituency assistant Cynthia Matsson. “I was raising a grandchild, so my first priority was getting him out of school.” That morning, something had also compelled her to buy a carrier for her new kitten. She later realized how very fortunate they were to have the carrier, as it enabled them to take the kitten during the evacuation.

Matsson recalls, “It was the most eerie thing as it was the middle of the afternoon, but it is pitch black outside and the sky is glowing red. Then, just one hour up the road to where they would find accommodations, it was a bright sunny afternoon, and it was such a contrast within such a short distance.”

“The unknown is the scariest part,” she adds, noting that in Edson they were fortunate that the fire did not reach the town.

During the second evacuation they made their way to Whitecourt and were able to set up a temporary office in a hotel and be available to constituents looking for information.

“We don’t always have the answers, but we can help provide the information we do have, and even the conversation with others going through the same thing is helpful,” she said.

In 2024 when the fires were burning in Jasper National Park, two hours west of Edson, the constituency office staff empathized, as they understood all too well what the people were going through.

“You do what needs to be done and we help each other as best as we can,“ said Matsson. “We were so fortunate with so many other constituency offices calling and offering help. People really pull together.”

Marsha Jensen’s Story

West Yellowhead constituency assistant Marsha Jensen was skeptical when talks of possible evacuation started. Her husband works as an incident support operations captain and her daughter worked for the Town of Edson. Both would end up staying behind to work in the 24/7 Emergency Command Centre (ECC).

Jensen would be responsible for getting herself, her mother-in-law, and the family dog to safety.

“I think I was in shock. People were texting and asking what I was going to pack and where I was going to go, and I just remember sitting on my couch looking around my house thinking: how do I decide what to take and what to leave behind?”