B.C.’s public safety minister says a provincewide state of emergency because of the ongoing floods is very much on the table.

Mike Farnworth made that statement on Tuesday afternoon and hinted that more details are expected tomorrow, Nov. 17.

“We have a cabinet meeting and I will be going forward with my colleagues with a full briefing to cabinet and I fully expect decisions will be coming out of that cabinet meeting,” he said. “I can tell you that a provincewide state of emergency is very much on the table.”

Like what was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, a provincial state of emergency would give the B.C. government extraordinary powers to protect supply chains and ban non-essential travel, at a time when two major highways connecting Vancouver to the rest of Canada – the Coquihalla and the Trans Canada – are washed out.

There is no estimated time for when either route could reopen, though Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said Highway 3 could reopen by the end of this weekend.

“Today has been very much a day of assessment in terms of the damage that is out there and the challenges that we are facing on the infrastructure front,” Farnworth added.

Farnworth is also asking people to be patient when it comes to supply chains as he says work is underway to clear truck routes so that goods and supplies can flow.

Back in July when there were calls for the province to declare a state of emergency due to the wildfire situation in the Interior, Brendan Ralfs, the Director of Response, with Emergency Management BC, said that a state of emergency was a legislative tool.

“A provincial declaration of a state of emergency has not been necessary to provide assistance to people, to access funding, or to coordinate or obtain additional resources, including federal assets, to support both the response efforts and people who are affected or impacted by the event,” he said

If a state of emergency is declared, it will be the third one in British Columbia this year.

There were states of emergency also in place for the COVID-19 pandemic and again for this past summer’s wildfire season.