Petrolia is the latest community to declare a state of emergency.

The town follows Lambton County, Oil Springs, Warwick, Sarnia, Pt. Edward and Lambton Shores action.

The town’s emergency control group met this morning to make the call.

“By declaring a state of emergency, our Municipal Emergency Control Group is ensuring that we can take action to protect our most vulnerable people. We hold the very best interests of our community as a top priority and have taken this measure to ensure continued support is available from our Municipality.” say Mayor Brad Loosley, who added, “At this time, I ask residents to continue to stay home if you are able, be kind, and follow the guidelines and restrictions in place meant to help us in our global fight against Covid-19.”

A State of Emergency was declared for the following reasons:

• To raise public awareness regarding the gravity of the current pandemic situation,
• To protect volunteers that are called to assist*,
• To preserve the rights of the Town for future compensation should it become available**; and
• To ensure the organization can quickly respond to other unforeseen events should they arise.

Under a declared emergency, duly registered volunteers are covered by the Workers Safety Insurance Board (WSIB). This includes current volunteers, and any volunteers that we may request assistance from.

This declaration places our municipality in a more favourable position for funding should the Federal or Provincial governments provide opportunities after the emergency resolution. This declaration may also prove beneficial to residents under the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians Program or from their insurance company.