44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 8, 2023 10:00AM
- Jun/8/23 12:47:10 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would like to indicate that I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills.
I will begin by acknowledging that this Parliament is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I appreciate the fact that we are debating this today.
By their very nature, forest fires strike swiftly and without warning. Tens of thousands of families in Canada have experienced that this week. Few things are as terrifying as forest fires. As so many Canadians and communities can attest, few things have such devastating consequences.
Over the past few weeks, we have seen videos of families fleeing through smoke from flames encircling their vehicles. It is horrifying. They had nothing but the clothes on their backs. Houses were reduced to ashes. Cars, trucks and forests were incinerated. Smoke blanketed cities hundreds of kilometres away.
In Canada, there have been more than 2,293 forest fires since the beginning of the year. These fires have ravaged more than 3.8 million hectares and forced thousands of Canadians to flee their homes. More than 20,183 people are still under evacuation orders. This week, we were all shocked to experience the unprecedented thick haze here in Ottawa due to the nearby fires.
In Alberta alone, more than one million hectares have burned, making this the second-worst wildfire season on record. It is only early June, and the hottest and driest period of the year is still to come. The situation in Nova Scotia is also unprecedented. The province has already been hit by more forest fires this year than in all of 2022. The fire in Shelburne County is the largest ever recorded in the province. In Quebec, fires are estimated to have destroyed more of the province's forests in the past four days than in the past 10 years combined.
We are pleased to see that the immediate danger has somewhat subsided in certain areas, but there are still 239 out-of-control or uncontrolled fires across the country. The numbers change by the hour.
Environment and Climate Change Canada also issued special weather advisories in parts of the country, including the national capital region, to warn the public about the risks of wildfire smoke. People with lung disease such as asthma or heart disease, older adults, children, pregnant people, and people who work outdoors are at higher risk.
The situation is unprecedented. Emergency responders from across the country are pitching in. I know that all members will join me in expressing my gratitude and admiration for the unwavering efforts of the firefighters and public safety personnel who continue to toil 24 hours a day to keep our citizens safe. International assistance has come to us from our partners in the United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and more help is on the way from our allies, including France.
In particular, I want to thank all those who took the time to help their neighbours. A lot of people have offered their help to others. I had the opportunity to visit northern Ontario, Quebec and a lot of other places in the past few days, and I can say that it is necessary, it is paramount, for neighbours to help each other. I am proud to see that in Canada, when people need help evacuating their families, their neighbours answer the call. I am proud to see that in Canada, when a province needs help, its neighbours answer the call by providing the personnel and resources to help fight the fires.
Over the past few weeks, I have met with representatives of search and rescue organizations in Sault‑Saint‑Marie and Pointe‑Claire. I had meetings in emergency operations centres in Thunder Bay and Quebec City, in addition to meeting with representatives of the Salvation Army in Montreal.
Those organizations exist to support efforts on the ground at times like these. I can say that the people who sustain those organizations are the embodiment of Canadian solidarity. Canadians can rest assured that the Government of Canada is ready to support any province or territory that requests assistance.
My riding, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, has suffered the impacts of flooding, and we have seen the solidarity of the volunteer groups that have rallied together. I would like to thank everyone who has helped out, including the organizations, the businesses that supplied equipment and all those who came together, including the municipalities that set up service centres.
We have supported the provinces by sending nearly 150 members of the Canadian Armed Forces to Alberta to support firefighting efforts in the Fox Creek and Fort Chipewyan regions. DND and CAF personnel are also helping fight forest fires in Nova Scotia. This assistance comes on top of other supports being provided by various federal departments and agencies, including the Canadian Coast Guard, Transport Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada, to name a few.
Health Canada, for example, provided equipment such as cots for evacuees through the national emergency strategic stockpile. Public Services and Procurement Canada is ready to provide emergency assistance to guarantee additional supplies, services and temporary accommodation.
I do not have the time to list all the assistance we are providing today, Madam Speaker, but rest assured that our government will continue to work with all levels of government to ensure they have what they need to keep people safe. This is not the time for playing politics, it is the time for everyone, including the federal government, the provinces, the territories, indigenous people, organizations and municipalities, to work together. Let us all work together to fight the forest fires.
We must also plan for how to get back to normal after the fires are put out. In the event of a major catastrophe, the federal government can cover up to 90% of eligible response and recovery costs for the provinces and territories as part of the disaster financial assistance arrangements.
These events are becoming more frequent and more severe because of climate change, and this trend will continue. Canadians still clearly remember the destruction of Lytton in 2021 and Fort McMurray in 2016. Last fall, the Atlantic region was hit by hurricane Fiona, one of the worst storms ever recorded. We know that climate dangers pose significant risks to the safety of Canadians and also to our economy and our natural environment.
Indigenous communities are at greater risk because they are often in remote or coastal locations, do not have access to emergency management services and are dependent on natural ecosystems.
Understanding these consequences and other repercussions of climate change and preparing for these events are a priority for our government. Public Safety Canada is working with our federal partners, the provincial and territorial governments, indigenous organizations and our non-governmental partners to strengthen Canada's ability to assess risks, mitigate the effects of natural disasters, and prepare for, respond to and recover from them.
In conclusion, I want to thank my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois for raising this issue in the House today and the NDP for requesting an emergency debate about it on Monday. Indeed, it was very important on Monday also. Our homes and our well-being are at risk. As parliamentarians, we must continue to work together, setting partisanship aside, to make Canadians' safety a priority.
In closing, I would say that after watching what has been happening on the ground these past few days, we need to take climate change seriously. No government has ever done as much to combat climate change. We must keep going and fight the forest fires. That is the priority right now. Then we can look at ways to combat these environmental disasters more effectively.
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- Jun/8/23 12:58:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about our non-partisan collaboration on the wildfires. Our government is working hard to meet its G20 commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Although we cannot stop using oil overnight, we have made a lot of commitments in this regard.
Let us talk about what really matters today, which is solidarity in the fight against the wildfires. Let us talk about the wildfires, which is the hot topic of the day.
The Quebec government appealed to our government on Friday. The Bloc Québécois has asked me questions in the House. I answered that we were fully co-operating with the Quebec government. We received Quebec's request, and, the very next day, we gave our approval and said that we would assist Quebec.
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- Jun/8/23 12:59:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as a government, we have taken real action. We created the national risk profile. This document, which we have been working on since we took office, is now available. Today, we have an understanding of the risks in a world increasingly affected by climate change. In addition to equipment, this is one of the best ways to keep Canadians safe. It lets us determine what we need, and what equipment and personnel are required.
The bad news is that there will be more events like this as time goes on.
I hope that the national risk profile will be further developed to cover events other than floods and wildfires.
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- Jun/8/23 1:01:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are proud to be at the forefront of the global movement against fossil fuel subsidies. Canada has accelerated its commitment within the G20 by moving the date up from 2025 to 2023. We are on track to meet this accelerated timeline. We are also asking our peer countries to accelerate their timeline. If everyone on the planet moves in the same direction, we will succeed in combatting climate change.
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