SoVote

Jun/5/23 11:08:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the very good question. We see the importance of having adequate equipment when certain disasters happen or situations arise. The problem is that often the situation has not been anticipated, and we do not think about what equipment is needed when a disaster occurs. Of course, we must be very vigilant. My colleague is right. We must also be aware of the fact that climate change is real and we must all work together to reduce CO2 emissions.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/5/23 11:09:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would first like to say that my heart goes out to everyone in the riding of the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord who is affected by these forest fires. However, I have to ask the member something. These fires are fuelled by the climate crisis and the member's party moved a motion earlier today to remove the most basic climate policy we have in this country, which is a price on pollution. Does the member see a disconnect between his deep concern for his neighbours during this emergency and his party's motion earlier today, which would weaken our response to the climate crisis?

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Mr. Richard Martel

Jun/5/23 11:10:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Of course we need to reduce CO₂ emissions, but we can do that with new technologies, not with a carbon tax. It is important to keep one other thing in mind. I would like to know what target the Liberals have met since coming to power. We often get fingers pointed at us, but it is important to look at what the Liberals have done. Canada ranks 58th out of 63 of the worst polluting countries.

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Mr. Rick Perkins (South Shore—St. Margarets, CPC)

Jun/5/23 11:10:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have heard some very good speeches tonight on this important issue. I would like to start by thanking the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay for bringing this forward. I would like to make more of a personal comment. I am not the first member of Parliament who has had to deal with wildfires in the riding, but two of the largest wildfires in Nova Scotia are in my riding, and one of them is still out of control. Therefore, I would just like to personalize this a bit with what the last eight days have been like in my province. Going back to Sunday, May 28, two Sundays ago, as members of Parliament, most of us were either flying to Ottawa to come here to do our jobs, as we do every week, or we were preparing, like I was, to leave early on Monday morning. It was late in the afternoon of that Sunday when my phone started to go with an alert that there was a fire and an evacuation going on 10 minutes from my house. There was a major fire in the community of Tantallon, which I am sure nobody in the House had ever heard of until eight days ago. It is a wonderful community up behind exit 5, as we call it, off the 103. It is the exit where people get off to go to Peggys Cove and St. Margarets Bay. It is a community of families and young families. There are three day cares there. There are a lot of retired folks, including quite a few retired RCMP and Canadian Armed Forces personnel, up there. There is an RCMP detachment in Tantallon, right there by the Sobeys. There is one street in and out of this subdivision, and it has no fire hydrants. On the back of it is the wilderness that is Nova Scotia. It is about a 15-minute drive from downtown Halifax. That day, the wind was about 40 kilometres an hour in Nova Scotia. On the first evening of the evacuation on that Sunday, I went to the newly opened comfort centre in the Black Point fire hall, which is about 30 seconds from my house. It was opened quickly by one of the two volunteer managers of the community centre, Janet Fryday Dorey. As people streamed in, they were really just in a state of shock. I talked to one couple who were sitting on their porch at about 3:30 in the afternoon having a beverage, as people tend to do after they have cut the lawn or done their chores on the weekend. They were sitting there and said that in so-and-so's back yard there was a fire going. Then the fire started to get bigger and within moments it had spread to their house and very quickly, because the winds were 40 kilometres an hour, it spread to the next house. The couple said, “We'd better get out of here”. They quickly got in their car and left. There was a roofer working on a roof next door who saw the fire happening, got off the roof and started to knock on people's doors to get them evacuated. When they came in, they were saying they did not know what was happening, that their neighbourhood was on fire and they did not know where to go or what they would do. This was not a comfort centre where people could sleep. It did not have showers. Community members started to come in, saying, “I have a room” and “I have a place for somebody to stay if they need it.” People from a couple of local inns in Hubbards came in and said, “If there is anyone who is evacuated, they can stay here for free.” Then food started to arrive. For Nova Scotians and most Canadians, food is the first response to a crisis, and food started to come in so that people had food to eat. I was there until about 11 o'clock at night. I got home when the centre closed. My cellphone rang, and it was the Minister of Emergency Preparedness calling on a Sunday night. On that first night, he phoned me, the local member of Parliament, to ask what was happening from my perspective, which I greatly appreciated. I was still a bit in shock. I knew there had been a fire starting in the south of my riding two days before. It started around a lake. I also knew that on that same day, 20 minutes down the road in a community called Chester Basin, another fire had started on Beech Hill Road. It was out of control, and the winds were blowing at 40 kilometres an hour. This modest fire in Shelburne County on a lake started on Friday night, May 26, at a party on a lake, when a fire was set to keep people warm. It was accelerated by the wind that Sunday and started to spread across the county. The next morning, the deputy fire chief of Halifax and the Department of National Resources were holding a media briefing to say what was going on. That was in Tantallon for the fire in Tantallon, not the Shelburne one. There were over 100 fire trucks from around the province on the scene in Tantallon, where in the space of two hours, over 16,000 people had been evacuated from their homes and had to find a place to live temporarily. The fire only got worse on Monday and Tuesday. In Shelburne County, the fire doubled in size every single day. If anyone knows Shelburne County at all, it is the big lobster fishing community in the southern part of my riding. There are two main towns and a lot of villages. The two main towns are the town of the Shelburne and the town of Barrington. This fire spread between the two of them. They are 30 kilometres apart. Over the next few days, half of that county was evacuated. That fire is still out of control. It has grown to 25,000 hectares, or 65,000 acres. Luckily, we had some rain on the weekend and it has not grown. It grew a bit on Sunday, but it has basically been stable. Some 5,000 to 6,000 people in that community were evacuated. Part of the fire in Halifax spread into the riding of Halifax West, and over 20,000 people were evacuated in Nova Scotia. During the week, while we were fighting the fire in Shelburne, an additional fire began behind the town of Shelburne, and another one in East Pubnico. There were a number of volunteers at the comfort stations. The Red Cross was running the comfort station in Shelburne, and the Salvation Army was feeding and running a station for the firefighters. My lead constituency assistant is a volunteer firefighter and has been fighting this fire every day since it started in the woods. I was back in the woods with them. They brought me back one night. We had communities shut off. We had firemen shut off. Firemen had to drop their hoses in communities like Clyde River and run for their lives to get on their equipment to escape the speed of this fire. It is feet down in the Earth now. It is a fire we are going to be dealing with in Shelburne County for months and months to come. The Halifax fire is 100% contained. There are still about 5,000 people evacuated in Halifax. The amount of work that has to happen to allow the rest to go back is huge in terms of determining safety, determining water quality, because most are on wells, and restoring power. The premier, the minister of emergency preparedness provincially and the federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness have been working well with all of the municipal officials as one team. This is unprecedented. We have never had this happen in Nova Scotia. There was no playbook for dealing with a suburb of Halifax burning at the same time as the largest fire in our province's history in Shelburne County. I just have to thank all the firefighters and all the first responders, as well as all the volunteers who are still helping to feed the firefighters. I ask for the patience of all those who are still evacuated; I ask them to please not go back until the evacuation orders are lifted. It is not safe. There is no going around it on an ATV or by boat. People will put themselves and others in harm's way if they do that. I ask them to please listen to local officials so we can deal with this as expeditiously as possible.

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

Jun/5/23 11:21:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is wonderful to get that first-hand account of what not one, but two, big fires can be like in the one's neighbourhood. I know these are not everyday occurrences in Nova Scotia. I would like to ask the member to give further detail on how Nova Scotia has been handling this. How has the federal government been helping? Can he share some ideas on how we can do this better in the future? We have parts of Canada that do not deal with fire on a daily basis. In the midst of it all, would it be better to have some federal resources to call on immediately? That way we would not have to wait a day or two, as Nova Scotia did, even though we were trying hard.

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Mr. Rick Perkins

Jun/5/23 11:22:28 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is a great question. In everything, we can always do better, but in this case, because this was so unprecedented, I think things came together fairly well. I heard, and still hear, enormous frustration from residents of my community who ask why all of it did not happen with a faster response. With 40-kilometre-per-hour winds and this thing rolling through like a freight train, it was very difficult to react as quickly as people wanted everyone to. The member talked about federal resources. I think that is a great idea. I think one of the things this experience has taught me is that the federal government's role is coordinating and trying to find all the assets that are across the country. Right now, there are not any available. That was a challenge. The federal government should have some ability to have some equipment to add. This is not the first or primary job of the armed forces. We were thankful they could come in, but they are not professional firefighters. They do not have professional firefighting equipment. They do not have water bombers. There were six water bombers that had to come on Friday night from Montana. There were three from Newfoundland and a number from New Brunswick. For Nova Scotia, that will be part of the analysis afterwards. It needs to have a little more ability. I think it is an important area we should be looking at from the federal government to see what kind of resources we could have available more permanently.

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Mrs. Sherry Romanado (Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, Lib.)

Jun/5/23 11:24:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for sharing, with the House, the realities on the ground. I know his riding was hit hard during hurricane Fiona also, so it has not been a very easy time for the residents of his riding. At the end of his speech, he alluded to a warning for community members to not return to their homes until it was safe to do so. I would like to offer the opportunity for the member to talk about any other advice he would like to give Canadians who may be watching, in terms of safety advice, whether it be with respect to camping season or avoiding having open fires. Is there any advice he would like to give others, as we are seeing wildfires across Canada, to prevent a situation similar to what his riding is facing?

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Mr. Rick Perkins

Jun/5/23 11:24:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, when we have no-burn rules that have come from our provincial governments, saying that people should not burn, or should be very cautious when we have dry seasons like we have, people should not think they can control the fire because they are someone special. That seems to still happen in Nova Scotia during all of this. These are ridings that rely on their own water, their own wells and septic systems. When people go back, they cannot drink the water; they have to have it tested. The provincial government of Nova Scotia is going to be providing, starting tomorrow, free water testing to make sure that, when people go back, that gets done. Primarily, people need to think about what they do on their own property. They need to make sure it is clean so there is not material there to catch fire. Most important, I ask people, when we are in this type of situation, to please not be lighting even local campfires or local bonfires at night just because they think they can control them.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Jun/5/23 11:26:05 p.m.
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The hon. member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia for a brief question.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Jun/5/23 11:26:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, since I do not have much time, I will make a comment instead. I really want to commend my colleague and thank him for his personal commitment in the situation in Nova Scotia. I want to commend him and his constituents for their courage and resilience. I think we can all agree that Nova Scotia has not had it easy over the past few years. There was the pandemic, hurricane Fiona, Portapique and now the wildfires. I want to thank him for his work. During a briefing given to us by the office of the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, the minister said that my colleague was his man on the ground in Nova Scotia. We could see the trust and communication between the minister's office and the members of the opposition, and I think that is a good thing. We all need to work together in situations like these.

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Mr. Rick Perkins

Jun/5/23 11:27:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do appreciate that this co-operation has been real, but the only way I could do that was to actually be in the communities, as I was, back and forth to Barrington, Shelburne, Tantallon every day. However, there was not courage from me. There is courage in the firefighters and the people fighting these fires. That is where all the courage and the heroes are.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Jun/5/23 11:27:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue. I would like to once again thank my colleague, who is far too humble, in my opinion. Naturally, we are grateful to local authorities, the provinces and everyone who is pulling together right now, but to see a member become involved this way too is unusual. Of course, we are there for our constituents, to reassure them, or at least to try. That is part of our role. However, I think the member's involvement in this case is of a different order. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to express my support for everyone affected across the country. We are talking about more than 26,000 evacuees at the present time. The situation is extremely fluid. I think that all members who have risen to speak this evening have reported different figures on the number of fires and on the number of fires currently burning out of control, simply because the situation is changing so very quickly. The teams in the field, local authorities, firefighters, the provinces and the federal government, which agreed to help the provinces that ask for it, all deserve our acknowledgement. Early last week, we saw Quebec fire crews lending a helping hand out west. Now we have to bring those people back home because we need to have as many resources as possible all over. I am starting to look at websites that show a map of Canada and what is happening everywhere. There is data on air quality. What we are going through right now is extremely worrisome. I really want to give all my support to the people affected. I am thinking especially about my colleague from the north shore, the member for Manicouagan, my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou and my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue, who is going home tonight to be with his constituents. I commend them because when we go through times like this, we wonder a bit about what our role is. It is obviously not always easy. When Quebec was first affected, the Quebec government was in charge of the situation along with SOPFEU and local authorities. As federal members, we were asking what we should be doing. Not long ago, a tragedy occurred in my riding and civilians were killed. We wondered what we could do in that type of situation. We do not want to hinder the authorities who are doing their job, but it is important that we be there to reassure people and inform them of the information that must be passed on. That is what my colleague was doing before me. I believe that it is important to repeat messages. I was reading about the potential causes of fires. I know that some are caused by lightning, but we must also mention open air fires and cigarette butts that could be thrown out and start fires. I believe that these messages bear repeating; we also need to make clear that no one should try to be braver than the others, that we should let professionals handle the situation and that we should follow the authorities' instructions. I think our role is to be there for our constituents, so I would like to salute the work of my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois and across the country. I know that many members are affected. I want to reiterate my gratitude to the Minister of Emergency Preparedness and his staff. They have been working hard to keep us, the critics for public safety and emergency preparedness, informed of the situation. They told us from the outset that they were going to communicate directly with the MPs affected, because it was important for them to know what is going on. I have worked with a number of ministers in the House since 2019. I really want to emphasize that collaboration with the Minister of Emergency Preparedness is always impeccable. It is good to see this level of cross-party collaboration. We can set politics aside in these situations. I think the affected citizens deserve nothing less. Is it important to have this debate tonight? Of course it is. It is urgent. This situation must be discussed and solutions must be found. As I was saying, most members are out on the ground. Afterwards, they will be able to come back and give us their assessment of the situation. They will have seen first-hand the resources mobilized. They will know what additional resources are needed and what should have been done better. I know I am not allowed refer to the presence of members in the House, but I am glad to see that the people who have to work on this are doing so while we are discussing it. I do not know what will come of this debate tonight. We certainly need to talk about it. I am talking about Quebec's experience. Until there is evidence to the contrary, we saw that the federal response was quite quick once the request was made. Are we going to run out of resources? That may be the case. We have to ask ourselves these questions. I think there is a contingency plan under way. We need to ensure we have these resources, particularly given that the Premier of Quebec pointed out this afternoon that the situation is likely to continue throughout the summer. Approximately 3.3 million hectares of forest have burned down so far. That is far more than the ten-year average. Normally, it is about 260,000 hectares. That is worrying. We need to make sure we have the necessary resources. I think we need to take stock and understand the root cause of all this. Obviously, there is the inevitable link with global warming. We have to ask ourselves these questions. Today may not be the right day for that. The Bloc Québécois feels that the priority is putting out the fires and making sure we have the resources on the ground. I am going to talk more specifically about the situation in Quebec, and my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue will provide a more detailed description of what is happening in his region. I can speak on behalf of my colleague from the north shore, who went to be with her constituents on the ground as soon as she heard that residents of Sept‑Îles were being evacuated. The situation is extremely worrisome. We are talking about two fires that are very close to each other and are surrounding the city of Sept‑Îles. I was told that the wind was out of the southeast but that, if the wind changes, then the whole city could be destroyed. Obviously, that is very worrisome. I often hear my colleague from the north shore talking about the importance of breaking the isolation of that area. I would imagine that it takes a situation like this to realize how important it is to do that. When we look at the situation that people from the north shore are currently facing, we see that they have a forest on one side, where the wildfires are burning, the ocean on the other side, and the Touzel bridge, which is currently damaged. They are a bit trapped. People are being evacuated by air, mainly for medical reasons. Supplies are going to be sent in to people in some communities that are also somewhat trapped. We should be asking important questions about these heavily forested regions, which may be more affected than others. I was saying earlier, in response to a speech by my colleague, that the majority of indigenous communities live in forested or wooded regions. They inevitably become the first victims of this growing phenomenon. What are we as elected members doing to protect these communities? I understand that fire crews are currently focusing on the out-of-control fires that are closest to inhabited communities, and we can understand what that is urgent. However, seeing the photos, the images of fires that are devastating hundreds of square kilometres of forest, makes me very sad. Obviously, the priority is human beings, but it is still shocking to see how much of the forest has been obliterated. Today, I travelled from my riding to Ottawa. I live just on the other side of the north shore, so I expected the air back home to be thickly contaminated. It was not too bad. Oddly, the closer I got to Montreal and the Outaouais region, the heavier the smog became. Now, even the people living in communities that are nowhere near the fires cannot say that they are unaware of the situation and unaffected by what is happening. My colleague was showing me a map of his riding. The fires are closing in. For some communities, it is only a matter of time before the fires reach them. Obviously, this is worrying. More than 780 international firefighters have been or will be deployed on the ground. President Macron will be sending approximately 100 firefighters and fire experts, particularly to Sept-Îles on the north shore. Firefighters have come from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The Canadian Armed Forces have also deployed soldiers and military personnel to lend a hand. The scale of the situation is obvious. I hope we are ready to face what is coming.

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

Jun/5/23 11:37:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for the update on the situation in Quebec, especially around Sept-Îles. When I was getting prepared for my speech tonight, I was looking at the long-term forecast for the rest of the season across the country, and what really stood out for me were the areas that will be affected. The hottest, driest areas were in northwestern Quebec, northeastern Ontario and basically all of British Columbia. Until now, British Columbia has largely escaped fires, at least west of the Rockies, except that one started just north of my hometown this afternoon. I am wondering if the member could perhaps talk more about the mid-term and long-term consequences of a fire season like this. What do we need to do to be more prepared?

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Ms. Kristina Michaud

Jun/5/23 11:38:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question. I was watching the news on the weekend and the woman who does the weather. She spoke about the air quality in certain regions. I thought to myself that it was not normal to be speaking about that. Is that the new normal? Will the weather forecast now be about the rain, the sunshine and the air quality? This has a huge impact on people and human health. Scientists have been saying so for a long time. Climate inaction will be more costly in the long term. The costs to human health will be enormous. I was saying earlier that this may not be the time to talk about causes or point fingers, but I believe that we have a lot of work to do. We must do more and we must do better, especially when it comes to climate change. The fact that we are already at adaptation and mitigation is not a good sign.

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Mr. Rick Perkins (South Shore—St. Margarets, CPC)

Jun/5/23 11:39:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I again would like to thank the member for her kind comments. One of the experiences we had, as I mentioned in my remarks, were areas where there was only one road in and one road out. The evacuation on the north shore of Quebec, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness explained to me the other night, was a big challenge because 10,000 people had to go through one road and one bridge, and that bridge had been damaged. What does the member think we can do to better plan and look at these communities in a different way to provide assurances or ways to have alternative exits in case we face this again, which we will?

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Ms. Kristina Michaud

Jun/5/23 11:40:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is exactly what I was saying earlier. The people of the north shore are practically stranded by the fire. They have the forest on one side and the sea on the other. The Touzel bridge has been closed for other reasons since last week, and the Rio Tinto rail line that runs north has also been damaged. I was talking earlier about opening up the region. We are going to have to adapt our infrastructure, even in remote regions. It is just wrong that such a large community would have no emergency exits. I often say that my riding is big, at 15,000 square kilometres, but Manicouagan is a different story. It is immense. These people could find themselves completely cut off. It just does not make sense. Investment in this infrastructure absolutely must be considered right away, since it really should have been done long ago.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Jun/5/23 11:41:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my dear colleague, the member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia. She speaks the truth, as always. There is just a slight difference between us, or maybe not. I am talking about the new normal. We are currently seeing a global temperature increase of 1.1 degrees Celsius. We need to avoid an increase of 2 degrees and, if possible, keep it at 1.5 degrees. I do not think this is a new normal, but the writing is on the wall. We are now in a situation where it is almost impossible to imagine that we can keep it at 1.5 degrees. We are already at 1.1 degrees. I think that in the future, we will look back wistfully on the summer of 2023.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud

Jun/5/23 11:42:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always daunting to answer a question on the environment and climate change from my colleague, who knows so much about the subject. I was talking about climate change adaptation and mitigation earlier. Unfortunately, some changes are already at a critical point, already irreversible, and we are going to have to live with that, unfortunately. As she said, we may have missed the boat on temperature. Is Canada's climate change plan enough? Certainly not. Are the plans of other major countries sufficient? Certainly not. We should have done better. Now we are at the adaptation stage. What are we doing to adapt to these new realities? Earlier, we were talking about adapting infrastructure. Some essential infrastructure is under threat. There is certainly more to be done in this area.

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Mr. Sébastien Lemire (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ)

Jun/5/23 11:43:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to a subject that is vitally important to my region of Abitibi—Témiscamingue and all areas of northern Quebec that are dealing with raging wildfires. As my colleague mentioned, I am going to get back on the road following this evening's debate. It made sense for me to be here today. It gave me an opportunity to talk to many members, particularly on the government side, who are stepping up. I think that enhances the work that we can do as elected officials, and I thank them for it. I stand before my colleagues with a heavy heart and a deep sadness to talk about the areas that have been ravaged by fire and the people who live there. Many of the fires were caused by lightning, but human activity also contributed to the situation. The fire, which has a mind of its own, is laying to waste our peaceful forests, leaving in its wake widespread destruction reminiscent of an apocalyptic movie. One need only look at the photos of cities in Abitibi—Témiscamingue, northern Quebec, the north shore or Lac-Saint-Jean, where the sun is hidden behind a haze of smoke and where you can smell wood burning a hundred kilometres away from the affected areas. In these areas, where nature is lush and vibrant, there are now only ashes or burning memories. The majestic forests that shelter an incredible diversity of animal and plant species will be reduced to blackened stumps and silent cries. There is something far more precious than the trees and flowers that have been ravaged by the flames: the human lives that have been affected by this tragedy. After being evacuated, many families are waiting to find out whether their home and their belongings avoided the worst. Many people are waiting to find out whether the lands filled with their memories will still be there after the fires have gone or whether loved ones will be affected. Lives have been disrupted, dreams are now on hold. My thoughts are with the Clova community. Through the darkness of the smoke, the light of solidarity has guided us. The people of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, of the north shore and of every region in Quebec stand together. The people of these regions have joined forces to face adversity. Firefighters are on the front lines. They are fighting fires, facing the flames and prepared to fight to save communities. Volunteers are working alongside them. Armed with machinery and backhoes, they are putting their know-how at the service of their community. Thousands of unknown heroes are volunteering without expecting anything in return. Police officers, first responders, municipal authorities and SOPFEU are there. They are making preparations and assessing the risks. They support one another to protect people's assets and ensure everyone's safety. In addition, there are all the people in the community who are helping out, offering land, housing, food or a cot. They are ready to lend a helping hand to save animals, especially in farming areas, by working together, supporting each other and sharing tears, suffering and worries. The solidarity of Quebec regions is a source of inspiration to us all. This solidarity will continue to be essential for our communities until the last fire threatening them is put out. I would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on the situation back home in Abitibi—Témiscamingue. When a disaster of this magnitude occurs, information is often hard to come by. I would like to salute my brother Philippe, who is a regional director with the Quebec department of transport. He was able to reassure me on certain points and give me the facts, which is always important. An important meeting was held yesterday under the leadership of the Conference of Prefects of Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Sébastien D'Astous, the mayor of Amos and prefect of the Abitibi RCM. Also at the meeting was Danielle Guimond from Quebec's public safety department, which was reassuring. However, this meeting also made us realize the amount of work that needs to be done on the ground. Of course, I want to recognize the work being done by SOPFEU, and especially Sylvain Labelle, who coordinates its operations. There is also the Abitibi-Ouest RCM and its prefect, Jaclin Bégin, as well as Norman Lagrange, who was on the ground to set up one of the camps in La Sarre. Today my colleagues may have heard for the first time in their lives the names of the towns of Normétal and Val-Paradis. Both communities were threatened by the flames and had to be evacuated. I also want to commend all the elected officials in Abitibi—Témiscamingue who are rallying together, particularly my provincial counterpart Suzanne Blais, the MNA for Abitibi-Ouest, with whom I have had discussions. The real work will begin once these fires are put out. Many forest communities may have seen their livelihoods disappear. Nearly 3.3 million hectares of forest have been decimated in Canada. This will require an inner strength that will be seriously put to the test. Solidarity will guide us once again. We will have to rebuild what was lost and heal the wounds. The regions devastated by fire will need us to help them rebuild and restore hope. We must invest in fire prevention, improve early warning systems and strengthen safety measures. We must also redouble our efforts to fight climate change and climate deregulation, which increase the frequency and intensity of these natural disasters. This has a major economic impact. Who knows what the flames will have devoured in our communities or what road or rail infrastructure has been affected? I am thinking of the north shore. Just think about the serious impact that the destruction of fibre optic infrastructure alone has on communication with the rest of the world at a time when people need information. We cannot imagine what an impact that can have. All of this will take time, effort and, most importantly, money. I know that the governments will step up. The economy of the regions will depend on it. We must show empathy and compassion to those who have been affected by this tragedy. We must reach out to them, give them our support and comfort. Together, we can heal the wounds, rebuild homes and help communities get back their joie de vivre. One thing is certain: The forest will need our help the most. It contributes to our economy and our environment. My region centres on outdoor activities, outfitting operations and forestry. The forest has always been resilient, but this time, it may need some help. It is up to all of us to contribute. We need to replant trees, while respecting the principles of sustainable forestry management. Let us remember one thing: Out of the ashes of these apocalyptic scenes, a seedling will emerge, its branches held high. This is not the first time our forests have been through such an ordeal. I am thinking about a squat little cedar tree on the islands in Lake Abitibi in Duparquet. It has witnessed much history, being more than a thousand years old. It has pretty much seen it all, from climate change and forest fires to the arrival of settlers in Abitibi—Témiscamingue, all the way back to the coming of the Anishinabe first nations. It still stands there, proud and tall, just as Quebeckers in our region will stand proud and tall after this difficult time, ready to rebuild and ready to reforest to help our Quebec continue to prosper. As I have a little bit of time left, I will continue to name those involved. The armed forces are making a difference in our communities, especially the soldiers from Valcartier who have been mobilized. The Union des producteurs agricoles has made itself available to the people who have been asked to support the cattle that are particularly affected in Abitibi-Ouest and to try to find refuge. There may be some assistance in that regard. Due to the lack of resources in small municipalities, they will require a helping hand. Once again, I want to salute the excellent work of SOPFEU. I want to point out the excellent work of my colleague, the member for Manicouagan, who was a source of inspiration in the current situation. In Abitibi—Témiscamingue, I feel somewhat like the little white house in Lac-Saint-Jean on the weekend. It is as though the entire neighbourhood was burning, but only my house was unaffected. We could smell the forest fire in Larder Lake in Rouyn‑Noranda, which is about one hundred kilometres away. Of course, when speaking of Chapais and Lebel‑sur‑Quévillon, there is everything that is happening in the riding of my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou. The fire was 500 metres from the Nordic Kraft mill and could have had devastating consequences given all the potential explosive products on site. There are the indigenous Anishinabe communities of Lac‑Simon and Kitcisakik; Louvicourt, which is the gateway from Abitibi—Témiscamingue to the rest of Quebec; Val‑d'Or, which has had evacuation alerts; the people of Normétal and their mayor, Ghislain Desbiens, who have had to mobilize; Saint‑Lambert also had an alert; Saint‑Dominique‑du‑Rosaire and its mayor, Christian Legault, whom I would like to acknowledge and to whom I spoke briefly today, where fires broke out and were quickly brought under control; La Reine and Fanny Dupras, with whom I have frequent discussions. I want to say thank you and bravo for their resilience and for welcoming the SOPFEU teams. All of this unimaginable work is being done in collaboration. Solidarity remains perhaps the most important value under the circumstances.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

Jun/5/23 11:53:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his intervention today and for providing us with information about what is happening in his region. Today, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about people in Alberta, of course, my home province, and certainly about the indigenous groups in northern Alberta, such as Chief Adam and the group in Fort Chipewyan. We know that people in remote communities, indigenous communities, are much more at risk for wildfires due to their location. I wonder if the member could speak a bit to that. I know my colleague brought up, earlier, the idea of FireSmart programming and ways we can prepare our communities for forest fires. I wonder if he could speak to that a little more.

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