Building a more resilient community as B.C. prepares for 'The Big One'

John Halldorson knows the best way to keep friends and family safe after an earthquake is to prepare communities for disasters beforehand.

As director for the Dunbar Earthquake and Emergency Preparedness Group, Halldorson works with his community to build resilience through emergency preparedness.

Halldorson joined Dunbar’s emergency preparedness group in 2013 because he wanted to give back to his community and put the skills he learned in the Canadian Army Reserves to work.

He served in the Canadian Army Reserves for 43 years and in the last few years of his service he taught a Light Urban Search and Rescue course at the Canadian Forces base in Esquimalt.

Halldorson said the 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, showed neighbourhoods that prepared before the disaster were mor