Thank you to the member for Carleton for the question. She’s doing an excellent job for her constituents every single day.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly do understand first-hand the challenges that flooding can bring to communities. In 2013 and 2019, in the community that I led at the time, we went through devastating situations. And in 2019, the Premier was there on that very first day to ask how he could help.

But Mr. Speaker, coming out of that, the Premier and others have paid a lot of attention to developing a flooding strategy for Ontario and making sure that communities have this strategy that they can call on, drawing on expert recommendations to ensure the public is better prepared for flooding, and that we’ve been working hard to implement those recommendations.

We’ve also committed over $30 million to protect wetlands, one of the biggest wetland recovery investments in provincial history, and that helps with flood mitigation as well. Over $26 million in disaster recovery assistance to individuals, businesses and communities, and $4.7 million to help with municipalities with flood forecasting. We can’t prevent floods, but we—

Speaker, there are no quick fixes when it comes to reducing impacts from flooding, but Ontario’s flooding strategy aims to improve preparedness and make Ontario a true leader in flood management.

My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. We are mindful of the devastating impact that flooding and extreme weather can have in our province. Many individuals will remember the damage that flooding caused to the people of Ottawa, eastern Ontario and the Parry Sound and Muskoka regions in 2019. These floods impacted thousands of homes, individuals and businesses, requiring Canadian military assistance, and unfortunately, sadly, lives were lost.

As we move from winter to spring and ice and snow begin to melt, many individuals are rightly concerned about how this could affect their communities once again. Speaker, through you, what is our government doing to respond to potential flood risks facing our communities?

Following the tragic events of the 2019 flood, our government commissioned a task force to report on areas and recommendations for improving flood resilience and enhancing public safety. The independent flood advisor’s report highlighted the proactive steps the government can take to mitigate the impacts of flooding in our community.

Speaker, through you, can the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry please explain how our government acted on this report’s recommendations?