Thank you to the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke for his comments. They were very enlightening this morning. They certainly reveal how the government views environmental assessments as a joke; also, how the NDP is living rent-free in the member’s head.

When the member is not spending his time obsessing over the NDP, he might notice that people in Ottawa are incredibly stressed about flooding that is taking place again this year. We’ve had two once-in-a-century floods in the past six years. Levels are again above normal this year. Homeowners have spoken about how incredibly stressful it is every year to wonder if their home is going to be flooded, what kind of damage will happen. That speaks to the importance of why we do environmental assessments and why they need to be taken seriously.

Why does the member not believe that environmental assessments deserve that kind of serious consideration?

Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a very sobering report, warning governments to act now as the window is closing very quickly to prevent catastrophic levels of global warming. This is a final warning before it becomes too late to stop a 1.5-degree Celsius increase in temperatures.

The report identifies an increase in extreme weather events around the globe that are having a devastating impact on humanity. We are already seeing this in Ottawa West–Nepean, Speaker, where in the past six years, we have experienced two once-in-a-century floods, a tornado and an incredibly destructive derecho. All of these events destroyed homes and displaced residents. Just this winter, for the first time, we saw our beloved Rideau Canal fail to open, hurting many local businesses, and disappointing locals and tourists alike.

But the report also offered hope, Speaker. We can still address climate change, prevent the worst outcomes and secure a safer future for all of us if we act now. We have the tools and the knowledge of what needs to be done. What we need is the political willpower.

As UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, the report is a “clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every time frame ... our world needs climate action on all fronts—everything, everywhere, all at once.”

We need this government to take that call seriously, Speaker. The solutions are there to reduce emissions, boost our economy, keep people safe and hand a better world to our children. Will they heed that call?