SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
October 31, 2022 10:15AM
  • Oct/31/22 11:10:00 a.m.

My question is for the House leader. Across the world and in Ontario, we are seeing effects of climate change, with extreme heat, floods and forest fires. These events rip through communities, costing people their well-being, money and, in severe cases, their lives. Experts like the Insurance Bureau of Canada are sounding the alarm. The Intact Centre at the University of Waterloo tells us that for every dollar invested in climate adaptation, the return is $3 to $8 worth of cost avoidance.

Recently, I announced the creation of an all-party climate change committee. Emergency preparedness is a non-partisan issue, and we need to work together to ensure our residents are aware and ready and protected for the future. My proposal reflects the House, with four Conservative members and one member from each of the other parties, reaching out to stakeholders and reporting back within six months.

Will the government put forward my all-party climate change committee motion to show the people of Ontario that they are serious about climate adaptation and emergency preparedness?

The benefits of climate mitigation are global; the benefits of climate adaptation are local. My all-party climate change committee would focus on the local to ensure Ontarians are ready, aware and protected. Why wouldn’t you want this for your riding? Why not work collaboratively across party lines, with keen members all across the chamber who have already shown interest? Why not save the people of Ontario hardship, finances and unnecessary grief by planning ahead with protection in mind? And why not show true leadership and actually lead on emergency preparedness and climate adaptation?

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  • Oct/31/22 11:10:00 a.m.

I appreciate the interest from the member opposite.

When it comes to adaptation resiliency, investing in the future, this Premier is taking decisive action, be it in manufacturing of clean steel—we’ve taken decisive action that has resulted in the equivalent of over two million cars off the road—be it the first-ever Critical Minerals Strategy that is working in partnership with Indigenous leaders in the north to ensure that we’re going to continue being a leader in electric-vehicle manufacturing and attracting over $16 billion in investment into this province.

We’ve also—working with stakeholders like the insurance bureau on the climate change impact panel—worked on the first-ever adaptation climate report in the province’s history, and we’ll continue working with all levels of government to ensure that we build resiliency and adaptation, not just today but for generations to come.

If that member wants to be part of action, then join and actually act. Work with your local organizations’ Canada-Ontario agreements, the Great Lakes Local Action Fund. Work with local groups on the many funding envelopes open today to take meaningful climate action. The reason she is not is because they’re not actually interested in that; they’re interested in cheap political points. We’re interested in clean jobs of the future, taking meaningful climate action, and we’ll continue to do that.

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