Winnipeg Lunch & Learn - September 9, 2025

The Challenge

Not all systems, functions, resources, and processes within an organization are of equal importance. Some functions are critical to daily operations, while others may have a lesser impact if disrupted during a low usage period, but become high impact at certain times, e.g. Payroll. Its function is critical two or three times a month in most organizations. This means, if an outage occurs during an off-pay week, it’s not a great inconvenience, but if an outage occurs during a payroll run, its pretty critical, especially to those living paycheque to paycheque. RTO is both good and not so good for building resilience when viewed through that lens.

Garth is a seasoned resilience professional with more than 25 years of experience. He has successfully developed and managed numerous programs, as well as led and responded to many crises over the course of his career.

We invite you to examine the evolution of the Incident Command System (ICS) from its origins in California during the 1970s to its current state in 2024. This presentation will address some of the challenges to effectively implementing ICS that organizations have faced over the decades and offer some options for consideration.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about, or rethink, the use of ICS and improve your organizational response strategies.

Ray has over 40 years of experience in Emergency Management, covering tactical, operational, and strategic response levels. While working as a paramedic, Ray was deeply moved by news reports of the post-earthquake devastation in Armenia. He took the initiative to organize the logistics needed to land a team of medics and firefighters behind the iron curtain within five days. This pivotal moment sparked his enduring interest in emergency management.

Ray later joined the City of Saskatoon Fire Department, specializing in medical HAZMAT and heavy rescue, and eventually became the City of Saskatoon’s Director of Emergency Management. In this role, he led several interorganizational and interjurisdictional change management initiatives, resulting in the widespread adoption of the Incident Command System, the design and implementation of an emergency operation center, and a new interagency Mobile Command Unit. Ray then joined the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, where he became the Chief of Emergency Management. During his tenure, he developed new provincial standards for fire departments, a standardized auto extrication program, and a new governance model for the provincial Emergency Operations Center. Ray also established the Intelligence Situational Awareness Team (ISAT) and set up the Government of Saskatchewan’s business continuity framework. Although recently retired, Ray remains active and passionate about using effective policy and governance to enhance public safety.