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House Hansard - 206

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 5, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 206 - Jun/5/23
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Jun/5/23 11:07:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, first, I want to thank my colleague for highlighting how the smoke and the air pollution are impacting people due to fires. In fact, we were just at the all-party climate caucus, where we had representatives of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. They highlighted that seven million people worldwide, and this is according to the World Health Association, are dying from air pollution. It is rivalling smoking, which is at eight million. It is also contributing to 18% of premature deaths. The impact is severe on human health. We know we have to mitigate climate change, but actually putting out fires quickly is an important role and responsibility in doing that. Does my colleague agree that the federal government needs to ensure that we have equipment so we can tackle these fires quickly? I think of Coulson Aviation, from my riding, which is fighting fires in Argentina and Australia. It works with the federal governments there to refit their aircraft. We know the Canadian military needs to have the right equipment if it is going to support provinces in need as we see fires pop up in different parts of the country.
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Context: House Hansard - 206 - Jun/5/23
Mr. Richard Martel
  • 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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