SoVote

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.)

Nov/24/21 6:51:52 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on what the member just made reference to, and that is pulling together. As we look at what is taking place in British Columbia, we recognize that not only the national government but also the provincial government, municipalities and many other stakeholders all have an interest in making sure that B.C. and the people who are so dramatically affected are lifted out of this and that we help build back. Can the member provide her thoughts in regards to just how important it is that the different levels of government continue to show that sympathy and provide the support that is so critically important to help these communities in need?

118 words

Ms. Elizabeth May

Nov/24/21 6:52:48 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is critically important. It is going to have a big price tag. I was struck when the hon. Prime Minister spoke in Glasgow, and made reference to Lytton. Lytton is still there and it needs to be rebuilt. The people of Lytton are there and it is a major first nations community as well, with scattered first nations around it. It is important that we leave no community behind in this, but it is not going to be inexpensive. For decades, studies have shown that the costs of ignoring climate change were going to be far larger than the costs of action. We now find ourselves in the unenviable position where we need to do both harder and faster. Fortunately, rebuilding communities does stimulate the economy, getting all the people possible who can get to work to help farms rebuild. There has been so much loss, a devastating loss, that it is hard to imagine how some families will pull everything together, but they need to know there is going to be a source of funds to get their farm back up and running. They need to know that their home can be repaired, even if the insurance companies say they are not covered for this kind of flood. We are going to have to rethink how we respond to what used to be called natural disasters which are no longer natural.

235 words

Mr. Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, CPC)

Nov/24/21 6:54:21 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to salute my fellow British Columbian for her comments today and her sympathy for all those who have been affected by the flooding in our great province. The hon. member talked about needing to do things differently. Tonight, I know that we are going to debate lots of different ideas and I do hope we hit some big ideas. For example, I have heard from small municipalities about the DFAA, the disaster finance assistance program, and they cannot afford the 20% that is expected, while senior levels of government are expected to do 80%. What does the member think about that? The member also talked about empowering communities. The last time the federal government arranged with the Province of British Columbia was in the gas tax agreement of 2014. I think there is an area that we can improve upon. Tim Roberts, who is an area director for rural Keremeos, has suggested that small regional districts and municipalities should be able to use some of the leftover gas tax toward flood mitigation and fire mitigation, because many times there is interface area where there is fuel that can easily be removed if they were to hire students over the summer to do so. Can the member comment on some of the big ideas, but also some of the small ideas that are so important to help our communities adapt to climate change?

236 words

All Topics

Ms. Elizabeth May

Nov/24/21 6:55:46 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, in the same spirit of working across party lines, I want to salute the hon. member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola for attending COP26, not just for a couple of days, but for the full two weeks. I saw his comments in the media recently that the nature-based solutions that were talked about at COP are really important. I would suggest too that students in the summer plant trees restoring what I referred to as hydrophobic soil. On the hill that was burnt off in 2017, the Elephant Hill fire, nothing is growing back because the soil just became baked. The top surface was destroyed by the heat of the fire. We need to get trees, and not just any trees, but trees that are right for that ecosystem. That will help restore our salmon. That will help bring things back. Those jobs and that ecosystem are key parts of responding to the climate emergency. I just say to his point about about small communities, that absolutely, they do not have the money to come up with 20%. We need to be much more creative of how we are going to help particularly small, impoverished rural and remote communities cope with an increased, and I am afraid to say inevitable, level of extreme weather events that wipe out their infrastructure. We need to be really creative.

231 words

All Topics

Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean, BQ)

Nov/24/21 6:57:20 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands. She knows how much I appreciate her. I tell her every chance I get. I thank her again today. Since this is the first time I am speaking during this 44th Parliament, I want to thank the people of Lac-Saint-Jean for placing their confidence in me once again on September 20. I also thank everyone who participated in the democratic process in the riding of Lac-Saint-Jean during this federal election. I thank my partner of 24 years, Mylène Cloutier, and my grown children, Émile, Jeanne and Simone, without whom none of this would be possible. That being said, what is happening right now in British Columbia is horrible. We know that it is a consequence of climate change. A person would have to be blind to deny this simple fact. Today, in question period, the Prime Minister suddenly announced that he knows the difference between provincial and federal jurisdictions. He told us that he could not intervene in Alberta's oil and gas industry for jurisdictional reasons. Is that not contradictory, when this government that promised to end oil subsidies has in fact increased them over the past few years?

210 words

All Topics

Ms. Elizabeth May

Nov/24/21 6:58:32 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating my colleague from Lac-Saint‑Jean for getting re-elected, and I thank him for his question. When he talks about his family, I of course think about his father, and I send them my best wishes. It is obvious that we have a problem here in Canada. We say all the right things, but we take very little action. I recognize that it is difficult for the federal government to have a good relationship with Alberta. I am thinking back to the stop acid rain campaign, which sought to do away with chemicals that damage the ozone layer. Here in Canada, we have done great things at the global level to protect life on this planet. We could never achieve our goals without extraordinary moral and political courage.

139 words

All Topics

Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Nov/24/21 6:59:52 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands talked about the tragedy of losing more than 500 people in the heat dome. Most of these people were low-income people living in urban heat islands, in apartments without air conditioning. The federal government could come up with the funding to switch the natural gas furnaces in those buildings to clean heat pumps that could cool those buildings as well as heat them, so we could save hundreds of lives across this country and reduce emissions as well. I am hoping this is one of the ideas we have to come up with in this era of adaptation.

108 words

Ms. Elizabeth May

Nov/24/21 7:00:48 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned. The impacts of the climate crisis are understood to be intersectional. Whether we are looking globally to developing countries or within Canada, it is the poor, the indigenous and people of colour who are most often victims of climate events. In the case of the heat dome, I was horrified that Premier John Horgan said they had no way of knowing and they thought it was just going to be hotter weather. I was horrified that both the federal and provincial governments, British Columbia and Canada, continued to increase fossil fuel subsidies at the very moment they should have been cut, but I totally agree there are things we could do. They include things like shade, more urban forests and more opportunities to let people go into parks. It was horrifying to me that Vancouver officials did not want people going into the Strathcona Park area for fear they would set up tents again, but that was life-giving shade. We need more attention to how we survive, more attention to cooling centres and more attention to social networks of resilience that get people out of their homes into safe, cool locations where they are given water and have access to ice. It is saving lives that counts on a minute-to-minute basis, and we need to be much better prepared.

228 words

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Nov/24/21 7:02:22 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the Minister of Emergency Preparedness. It is hard to even believe what is happening in B.C.: that after a summer of drought in Abbotsford, people's homes are now under water; that after living with the fear of wildfires months ago, Merritt now faces the devastation of flooding; that whole highways have been washed away; that farmers have lost whole herds; and that families have lost loved ones. Times have been tough lately. To the people of British Columbia, I know that you have suffered a great deal. This summer, on top of the pandemic, you had to deal with record-breaking heat and devastating forest fires. I lived in British Columbia for many years, and I know what strong and resilient people you are. Today, I want to tell you again that our government will continue to be there for you. From the start, we have taken action to help British Columbia as quickly as possible. The minister will provide more details in a moment, but we immediately convened the incident response group to bring the help that was needed to those who needed it. Over 500 Canadian Armed Forces members are now deployed. They are delivering food and supplies to communities and putting down sandbags to protect homes while repairing infrastructure and rescuing livestock. There is also significant support with helicopters and aircraft, with Griffons, a Cyclone and a Chinook now in B.C., as well as a Hercules and two Twin Otters. Reservists have been called in, including to help in Abbotsford. On top of that, there is a team ensuring the essentials, including fuel, keep moving. I know this is a concern for a lot of people and businesses. We are issuing interim orders to get food, fuel and supplies to communities and farms. Just today, we approved a request from the Port of Vancouver for over $4 million to create extra capacity so that ships are not turned away while the port clears the backlog of traffic. Our focus is getting everyone through this crisis, which includes almost $4.5 million in immediate support to first nation communities to keep people safe and start rebuilding. There is no doubt that the scale of this disaster is staggering. What it means for people's lives and businesses is devastating. We are here to help with whatever British Columbians need, and we will work hand in hand with the government of B.C. on direct support. On that note, I want to thank all of the first responders, the women and men in uniform who stepped up to serve. Of course, standing right behind each and every one of them is everyone across the province who has shown what British Columbians are made of. I think of the family that owns a restaurant in Hope and handed out food to folks stuck in their cars, the volunteers in Surrey gurdwaras who sent meals to those who lost their homes, and of the women and men in Abbotsford who last week passed sandbags hand to hand through the night. People across the province have answered the call. Together, we will get British Columbia out of this crisis. Now is the time to do all we can to protect families, help farmers and get trucks back on the road. We need to do everything we can now, but we also need to act for the future because we know that this is not an isolated incident. For British Columbians this fall it has been flooding and landslides; last summer, droughts and wildfires. For people out east it is a state of emergency and washed-out highways because of storms hitting hard right now. For the people in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, we will be there for them, but for tonight we ask that they please stay safe and follow local guidelines. If the last year has shown us anything, it is that the impacts of climate change are here sooner than expected and they are devastating, so on adaptation we have to accelerate our work. I could talk about investments to weatherproof homes or the half a billion dollars we will put towards community-based firefighters and equipment. All of that is key, but when it comes to solutions it is not just about one program, one investment or one community. It is about putting the full power of government and the entire force of our commitment behind real, meaningful climate action. Right now, as we rebuild our communities, we also need to take action for their future. There is no simple or easy solution, but we will continue to move forward and take real action. These are difficult, heartbreaking days and there will be difficult days still ahead, but together we will rebuild hand in hand with the government of B.C., with first nations, with municipalities and with all British Columbians. We will help them recover from this crisis and rebuild their homes, their businesses and their lives. Together we will reach better, brighter times.

850 words

Mr. Brad Vis (Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, CPC)

Nov/24/21 7:08:49 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I requested that special funding through the Treasury Board Secretariat management reserve be delivered expeditiously for the Village of Lytton. Can the Prime Minister provide any assurances about the type of funding the Village of Lytton will receive and what funding stream will be utilized by the Government of Canada to provide the support he just assured the House would be coming to help my constituents?

71 words

All Topics

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau

Nov/24/21 7:09:21 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his advocacy, for his strong words earlier today in his S.O. 31 and, indeed, for continuing to be such a powerful voice for his community and for the people from his community who have been displaced across the province as people have welcomed them in following devastations like what happened in Lytton. We will rebuild Lytton. We will do it in partnership with the community, with the people of the community and with the Province of British Columbia. We have been engaging closely with the province to ensure that the resources are there. In my many conversations with the mayor of Lytton and community members, but also the mayors of places like Merritt, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and others over the past weeks, it has been clear that we have a lot of work to do. This federal government will be there as a partner in rebuilding for a stronger future.

158 words

All Topics

Mr. Mario Simard (Jonquière, BQ)

Nov/24/21 7:10:26 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of his speech, I heard the Prime Minister tell us that his government will continue to be there for British Columbians, and I wondered what “being there” means. If “being there” only means putting out fires, I think that is not enough. We also need to prevent fires. We need to show empathy and sympathy tonight, but what we will need in the future is courage. Courage means being aware that in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the government invested $14 billion annually to support oil and gas. On the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, we saw $560 million invested in the emissions reduction fund go solely toward supporting oil and gas. If the Prime Minister is serious and he is there for Canadians, what he should do tonight is say that he will do whatever he can to end fossil fuel subsidies.

154 words

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau

Nov/24/21 7:11:26 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, first of all, “being there” for the people of British Columbia means being there with more than 500 Canadian Armed Forces members to help them get through this terrible time. It means being there with investments and money to help people who have been displaced, to help them rebuild their homes and highways quickly and to help them get back to work. Yes, we are there, and those are not just words. We are backing those words up with action right now. I also want to point out that Canadians across the country are demonstrating tremendous generosity right now by sending help to the people dealing with these challenges. At the same time, “being there” means being there for decades to come. That is why we launched the most ambitious plan to fight climate change this country has ever seen. We are taking concrete action by putting a hard cap on oil and gas companies' greenhouse gas emissions and reducing those emissions, by putting a price on pollution, by investing to protect our land and oceans, and much more. We are there now, and we will be there for decades to come.

198 words

Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Nov/24/21 7:12:53 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the federal government spends a few hundred million dollars each year on climate adaptation, mainly through the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. It is chronically oversubscribed. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities said, basically, that it should be 10 times that size. Where is the ambition? We need ambition here, just like we need ambition on climate mitigation.

59 words

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau

Nov/24/21 7:13:26 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the ambition has been there since 2015 as we have invested record amounts in infrastructure, not only in response to disasters but in flood mitigation in and around Calgary, for example, in water controls throughout the Prairies, and in building back better after floods in central Canada and in the east. We have continued to invest in resilience and adaptation, and we will continue to. Yes, the disaster program is oversubscribed. We will continue to increase funding as we help communities and Canadians get through these difficult times.

90 words

Hon. Bill Blair (President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Nov/24/21 7:14:15 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to have the opportunity to rise in the House to contribute to the discussion with my parliamentary colleagues about the tragic flooding that has been impacting British Columbia. I would like to begin by acknowledging the friends and families of those who have lost loved ones and all those who have been impacted by these floods, landslides and extreme weather conditions in B.C., not just during the most recent floods but also through the very challenging times last summer with wildfires occurring and the extreme weather event that also impacted that province. This is also an opportunity to extend our thanks and gratitude to the first responders, search-and-rescue volunteers, emergency managers and Canadian Armed Forces members who have been working tirelessly to keep people safe during this difficult time. I would also like to acknowledge community leaders, mayors, police chiefs, fire chiefs and ordinary citizens who demonstrated compassion, courage and extraordinary citizenship in standing up and being there for their fellow citizens. I would like to provide the House with a brief update. The situation on the ground overall continues to improve, in terms of dropping river levels and incremental progress on damage assessment, repair and restoration and community support. River advisories and warnings continue to be downgraded as river flows return to normal. The provincial emergency order remains in effect until December 1, and as we continue to work closely with the Province of British Columbia to support its recovery, Canadians can be assured that the federal government remains vigilant and will be ready to respond to all evolving threats related to this emergency. Last week, I received a request from the government of the Province of British Columbia for assistance. This included a request for air support to evacuate people affected by the floods, to reach important supply routes disrupted by the floods, to help vulnerable, stranded people in distress and to provide personnel to mitigate the effects of the floods, including protecting critical infrastructure, access roads and properties. I can advise the House that over 500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces have answered that call, and are deployed on the ground providing support and services to the people of British Columbia. We have also been working collaboratively to coordinate communications with the B.C. government and our colleagues to ensure that people are kept well informed to take actions to keep themselves safe and to recover from this very difficult experience. We remain committed to strengthening and addressing national standards for public alerts so that Canadians, regardless of where they live, will receive timely notification of any threats and have the knowledge to make informed and safe decisions. In times of emergency such as this, I am also pleased to note that many of us have been able to set aside our partisan affiliations to come together for the residents of British Columbia. Over the past week, I have had the privilege to meet with and to brief the local members of Parliament's constituents impacted most significantly by this flood. Both Conservative and NDP members have come together to meet with me and provide information and support to ensure that I was informed. They have been extremely active in bringing forward the concerns and needs of their constituents. I want to thank them for their collaboration and working together. I also want to advise the House that our government has initiated a whole-of-government response and has convened three meetings of the incident response group in order to respond. Each of the ministers of the government was asked to provide the steps they are taking to address the province's most pressing needs. As a small example, the Minister of Employment mentioned this past weekend that British Columbians who had lost their jobs or been displaced could and should apply for EI online as soon as possible, even without records of employment. To alleviate pressures on indigenous communities, Indigenous Services Canada's emergency management assistance program is providing $4.4 million to the First Nations' Emergency Services Society. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working very closely with the industry to support the humane and safe transport of animals and disposal of livestock that have died in this event. Health Canada is supporting its provincial health counterparts that have been so heavily affected by COVID, but also in their response to the recent flooding. The Canadian Coast Guard is engaged in responding to a large number of reports of drifting, sunken and beached vessels. There are many other examples. As a direct response to a request from the B.C. government, there has also been an effort to change the exemptions for people living in the Lower Mainland to cross into the United States to obtain gas and other essential goods, such as fuel. Notwithstanding some early inconsistencies, additional guidance has been offered to both CBSA and the Public Health Agency. I am informed that this is now working very effectively and we are taking care of those cases that were mishandled in the first place. Again, I would like to thank my colleagues for bringing those concerns forward and enabling us to quickly and effectively answer those questions. There are a number of other things I am happy to share with my colleagues. I would invite those who have questions or concerns, or want to bring concerns of their constituents to my attention, to reach out to me. I will respond quickly and I am grateful for their help. I also see this debate today as an opportunity for us to reflect on how we can work together not only to reassure those who have been affected by the flooding, but to let them know we are focused on their needs by demonstrating our shared commitment to serving Canadians in some of the most difficult times they face. This also gives us an opportunity to perhaps be forward-leaning: not just reacting to what has transpired but changing the way in which we prepare for these events in the future. It allows us to acknowledge that in rebuilding from the damage that has impacted so many, we must also think about building back a more resilient Canada to ensure that critical infrastructure can withstand the impact of climate change. This was echoed yesterday in the Speech from the Throne, in which we acknowledged the need to take action to prevent and prepare for extreme weather events brought about by climate change. We are seeing an increase in the number and severity of natural disasters. On average, Canada is warming twice as quickly as the rest of the world, and our north three times as quickly. The science and experience of Canadians make this point clear: We must do more and we must act now to prepare this country for climate-impacted reality. The events of the past two years, including the pandemic, have shone a light on emergency management in Canada. Since January 2020, via the Government Operations Centre, the Government of Canada has supported 147 requests for federal assistance from the provinces and territories to respond to everything from the ongoing pandemic to wildfires, floods and winter storms. However, we cannot be solely reactive. We need to better prepare for emergencies and strengthen our infrastructure, and that is why the government has created the stand-alone Ministry of Emergency Preparedness. I want to thank the Prime Minister for his confidence in assigning me this new role. In this role, I will be reaching out to our partners across the emergency management spectrum, including all orders of government, indigenous leaders, industry, the voluntary sector, academia and partners across the federal government to advance the work in this area that is increasingly a priority. Together we will create a more resilient, sustainable approach to emergency management that will help Canada prepare to mitigate, respond to and recover from disasters and we will be undertaking an effort to build a national culture of emergency preparedness. This partnership approach has been evident in some of our most recent work. For example, at an FPT ministers' meeting we recently released the emergency management strategy for Canada, which identifies shared priorities that will strengthen Canada's resilience by 2030. The priority area in this strategy is to improve our understanding of disaster risks in all areas of society and how we can work together to minimize these risks. For example, in budget 2019, we funded public safety over five years to improve Canada's ability to predict and respond to hazards, developing a national risk profile in collaboration with federal, provincial and territorial partners, as well as municipal and indigenous partners. It is a strategic national disaster risk and capability assessment that uses scientific evidence and stakeholder input to create a forward-looking picture of Canada's natural disasters and risks. It is based on scientific findings from various departments, other jurisdictions and research institutes, and it is clear that we need to strengthen our readiness to respond quickly and effectively to disaster events. One example of this is the work we have been doing to fund and support the Canadian Red Cross. Through this funding, the Red Cross has been able to strengthen its capacity and bring its expertise to help Canadians in long-term care facilities, isolation sites, and testing and vaccination sites as well as to facilities to help those who have been displaced by natural disasters. We are also leading work on the co-development of Canada's first national adaptation strategy. This will help Canada respond to the shared reality of climate-change impacts by uniting all orders of government, indigenous people and private companies in a whole-of-society approach to climate-change adaptation. The impact in British Columbia reminds us that flooding continues to be the most frequent and costly natural disaster in Canada, causing on average over $1 billion in direct damage to homes, property and infrastructure annually. The events in British Columbia will significantly raise this average. An estimated $8.5 billion has been committed to provinces through disaster financial assistance arrangements since they were created in 1970; however, 97% of these costs have been incurred over the past 25 years, and we are seeing an exponential increase in these expenses. As the member opposite mentioned, there is also the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund for disaster financial assistance. All of those things will be available, but I want to assure him that, in our conversations with the provinces and territories, it is clear we have to make more significant investments to help our provincial and territorial partners build critical infrastructure that is sustainable, resilient and adaptive to the new climate reality.

1791 words

All Topics

Mr. Tako Van Popta (Langley—Aldergrove, CPC)

Nov/24/21 7:24:39 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, about a month ago I, together with the members for Abbotsford and Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, met with the mayor of Abbotsford. My riding of Langley—Aldergrove touches the western part of Abbotsford. The mayor summoned us to this meeting to explain some of the weaknesses in the diking system around the Sumas Prairie, for which a request for federal funding of about $500 million had been turned down once again. In retrospect, that would have been money well spent on strengthening the diking system. Will the minister acknowledge that we are unprepared for the immediate realities of climate change and extreme weather events?

109 words

All Topics

Hon. Bill Blair

Nov/24/21 7:25:26 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his advocacy on behalf of the community. I know the mayor of Abbotsford well. I visited that town, and whenever I go to that town, I make a point of going to see the mayor. I know he is a strong advocate for his community. I also want to acknowledge the event that has just transpired with an absolutely incredible amount of rainfall falling in that basin, although I am a little reluctant to use the term “unprecedented”. That water is going in and obviously almost overcoming the existing diking system. I thank God it did not, and underscore that it is the result of the incredible work of people from Chilliwack coming down and helping to sandbag it at the Barrowtown Pump Station. This managed to save that circumstance. It is very clear that we need to make significant new investments. I can also tell members that there are approximately 120 Canadian Armed Forces members in Abbotsford today, and they are helping to restore that dike. In order to deal with that weather event, we are watching the weather very closely over the next several days. There will be up to 70 millimetres of rain falling in the Fraser Valley over the coming 10 or 11 days, so we are making sure that the infrastructure is there in the short term. In the long term, there is much more work to do.

244 words

All Topics

Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean, BQ)

Nov/24/21 7:26:42 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the minister's obvious sincerity today. In a debate like the one we are having this evening, we need to put partisanship aside and work together. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to express my deepest sympathy to our friends in British Columbia and let them know that they are in our thoughts. Some people are probably going through the worst moments of their lives today, or, at the very least, moments that they will never forget. Members have spoken about the future. It is good that we are doing everything that is being done right now, and we have to give it our all, because the present is what is important. We do, however, need to think about the future. I need to take the Liberal government, my esteemed friends on the other side of the House, to task for failing to follow through on the promises that it has been making for years to eliminate subsidies to oil companies. Does my colleague agree that the government needs to stop this madness?

185 words

Hon. Bill Blair

Nov/24/21 7:27:47 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the Bloc's expression of solidarity in this time of great challenge for Canadians right across the country. We note this week, and in the past few weeks, that the problems have been centred very much in British Columbia, but we are seeing significant rain events impacting the people of Nova Scotia and now Newfoundland. Of course, the impact of floods has been even more difficult, in many aspects, in areas of Quebec, so I think there is agreement. There is national consensus that more must be done, and I think there is a growing consensus in this country, certainly shared by the members of the House, that we must take bolder and more ambitious climate action to address what is becoming far too obvious: the impact of climate change on the everyday lives and safety of Canadians. We are ambitious in our plans to address climate change, and we also understand that it is not just simply thinking it is necessary to build back a cleaner and greener economy for Canada. We also have to create a more resilient economy and society to ensure the safety of our communities and our citizens in their homes, and to maintain essential supply lines. All of those things are being impacted by climate events. We share the ambition, and we are committed to working hard with members to address the real impacts we are seeing every day that climate change is having on the lives of Canadians.

251 words

SoVote

House Hansard - 3