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For Immediate Release April 30, 2002 Cross country roll out of national program to safeguard Canadian kids against natural disasters to include Winnipeg WINNIPEG – A national program designed to protect youngsters in childcare centres has been unveiled in Winnipeg by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR). ICLR staff and volunteers have retrofitted the Lord Roberts Preschool on Kylemore Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Other childcare centres in Toronto and London, Ontario have been retrofitted while four more centres across Canada will go through the same process in the coming months. The driving force behind the program – Protecting our kids from disaster – is to ensure that child care centres are retrofitted and consequently become better prepared to withstand the effects of natural disasters. Retrofitting can include such modifications as bolting bookcases and water tanks to walls, securing ceiling lights and hanging fixtures. "One of the common misconceptions is that disasters either happen somewhere else or to someone else," says Paul Kovacs, Executive Director of ICLR. "It's a fact that natural disasters are occurring more frequently, and with increasing severity, and every Canadian is at some risk," he says. In addition, ICLR will provide, free of charge, a complete "how to" manual, complete with video, to any childcare centre interested in carrying out its own voluntary retrofitting. In the early 1980s, the average cost of natural disasters to taxpayers and insurance companies averaged about $100 million per year. These costs have been doubling every five to ten years. A recent example is the 1998 ice storm in Eastern Ontario and Quebec. The total private and public cost of that unexpected disaster amounted to more than $5.5 billion. "Beyond the economic losses is the sad reality of the human toll caused by natural disasters" Kovacs says. "ICLR is committed to helping Canadians develop a better understanding of natural disasters, and we're starting with Canada's most vulnerable citizens – our children." "We are delighted with the support that the ICLR has provided," says Don Giesbrecht of the Lord Roberts Preschool – the third childcare centre in Canada to be equipped by ICLR with non-structural modifications to its equipment, furniture and supplies. "The assistance provided by the ICLR initiative will serve to assist us in ensuring the children in our care have better protection." The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction was established by the Insurance Bureau of Canada in 1998. It is a coordinated effort of the Canadian home, car and business insurance community, the University of Western Ontario and other partners to reduce the loss of life and property caused by severe weather and earthquakes. Through the identification and support of sustained work, ICLR will improve society's capacity to adapt to, anticipate, withstand and recover from natural disasters. For more information about the ICLR or the " Protecting kids from disasters " program, visit our web site at www.iclr.org . -30- For information, contact: Mary Devorski – 416-362-2031
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