Municipal and provincial officials gathered today at Portage la Prairie's Canad Inns for the AMM's Emergency Management Conference.

Among them was Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton. He says there are several issues delegates were concerned about besides flood mitigation.

"We are leaders when it comes to mitigation. What this focuses on though as well is other dimensions of emergency management. For example, climate change -- so we have to make sure our vision is in keeping with that. The other is our growing, and increasingly diverse population, and the means that we have to have a different vision in terms of how we respond to a specific emergency that factors in a lot of the cultural and geographic elements."

Ashton stresses it's not just elected people and bureaucrats who need to be prepared for emergencies.

"It's important for all of us in Manitoba to take some ownership in this, whether it is the flood mitigation, for example, that we're working on right now, a very ambitious program. Or whether it is some of the emergency issues that are evolving as well. I think the important thing for the average person is to make sure they're involved, and make sure that emergency management and emergency response is a priority."

Ashton adds the province is preparing for the first flood outlook in February, noting Westman's receiving extra attention, where there's higher than normal moisture. he notes for the province as a whole, February and March precipitation is the key factor in how we'll fare in terms of potential flooding.