44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 24, 2021 02:00PM
- Nov/24/21 8:56:40 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your role in the Speaker's chair.
I will be sharing my time this evening with my neighbour and friend, the member for Surrey Centre.
This is my first speech in the House of Commons since 2019, and it is good to be back. I am proud to say that I am visiting the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation from the traditional and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Katzie, Kwantlen, Matsqui and Semiahmoo first nations.
I would like to begin by thanking the voters of Cloverdale—Langley City for returning me to Parliament. I must thank all the volunteers who helped me over many months. I would not be sitting here if it were not for them. I would also like to thank my wife, Elaine, and children Kai, Hattie and Kalani for always supporting me.
I am pleased that you, Mr. Speaker, granted this emergency debate. I am thankful to so many of the B.C. members of Parliament for being here and being part of this important discussion, but also to colleagues from around the country.
I want to also offer my support to the members who are most affected by this recent tragedy in British Columbia. In the areas of Abbotsford, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, I know it has been particularly devastating to communities. Anything I can do from this side of the aisle, I am here to offer that support to them.
The devastating flooding in B.C. last week was heartbreaking to watch and continues to weigh on my mind as this Parliament begins. This is especially true for the four individuals who lost their lives, two of whom were parents of a toddler they were on their way home to see, and for those who are still missing.
Considering how to avoid loss of life in the future should be the first priority as we rebuild. Henry Braun, mayor of Abbotsford, one of the worst-hit areas, estimated that the damage caused to his city will cost at least $1 billion. This is the cost to just one city in this region. The most recent estimate for the total damage in B.C. is over $8 billion.
The economic impact to our infrastructure and to farmers, including half of B.C.'s dairy farmers, as well as to businesses and to personal property is distressing. The scale alone should be cause for concern regarding our economic future. We need systems to mitigate economic disruptions during extreme weather.
The loss of animal life must be considered as well. Thousands of animals, including tens of thousands of poultry, drowned from the flooding or died from being stuck in transports with no access to farms or feed. For farmers this is costly and for our domestic food security it is disruptive, but it is also a sad state of animal welfare. Farmers and farm animals need emergency procedures for protecting animal welfare during these events.
The losses to our critical infrastructure, particularly bridges and segments of railroad, are causing shortages in key household goods. Gasoline is being rationed. Some of the infrastructure will take months if not years to repair, posing challenges for our communities, provinces and country. Many of these routes move goods between Canada's biggest port, the Port of Vancouver, and the rest of the country.
For our food security and supply chains, how to withstand another event such as this needs to be central to the reconstruction of this infrastructure. I must acknowledge how my constituency managed during the flooding. While Cloverdale—Langley City is close to Abbotsford and many of the hardest-hit areas, it avoided the devastating flooding this time. However, residents faced property damage that, as we emerge from COVID-19, is another economic hurdle to overcome. Fortunately our government is already investing in climate adaptation.
In 2019, our government invested over $76 million in Surrey, Delta and the Semiahmoo First Nation to implement a comprehensive flood adaptation strategy to increase resilience for over 125,000 residents in our region. Some parts of my riding are playing an important role in food security, including Heppell Farms. Working sandy loam soil, their crops withstood the rains and will be able to provide for the greater region as we experience losses in B.C.'s interior.
The effects of the flooding go far beyond the Lower Mainland, though. Much of B.C.'s coast was impacted by flooding last week and is again, as I speak, experiencing further downpours of rain. With the next three storm events in the coming week expected to also be atmospheric rivers, we do not know what the next round of rainstorms could bring.
Communities in the interior, including Merritt and Princeton, were also negatively affected. Extreme weather events are not restricted to B.C., either. Atlantic Canada is simultaneously being subjected to unprecedented rainfall and the Prairies have suffered terrible droughts this year. Recovering from these events will take commitments from all levels of government. Inaction will continue to cost society.
Insurance claims will drive up insurance costs, and in some areas, insurance is not available if property is on a flood plain. This puts pressure on governments to help homeowners rebuild following these types of catastrophic weather events.
No human life should ever be lost. Farm animals need to be protected, as does personal property. With loss of life, economic impacts, animal welfare and supply chains in mind, the catastrophic flooding last week is the most recent, and perhaps the most significant, illustration of how necessary climate adaptation, mitigation and resiliency are to Canada.
Our country is warming at twice the rate of the global average. In the Arctic, it is three times the rate. Preventing warming past 1.5°C will mean for us 3°C and in the Arctic 4.5°C. These effects are why our government is ready to move faster on climate initiatives than we have before. We demonstrated that this year with our ambitious targets of a 40% to 50% reduction in our emissions, and at COP26 by committing to end thermal coal exports by 2030, to cap and reduce the oil sector's emissions to net zero by 2050, and to cut our methane emissions by 30% no later than 2030. Without these actions, the $8 billion cost of a single extreme weather event will be more frequent and more costly. Eight billion dollars is about 3% of my province's economy.
It is simply not sustainable to be unprepared for extreme weather and climate change. Our government is addressing this directly by including Canada's first-ever national adaptation strategy in the Speech from the Throne. Reconstruction of infrastructure will need to include funding to ensure that future infrastructure can withstand extreme weather events such as the one we recently experienced in British Columbia, and likely stronger ones. Our national strategy will need to include processes for protecting businesses and farms, including their animals. It will need to support stronger implementation of warning systems to avoid loss of life. Also, we do not fully understand the devastating impacts that this and similar weather events will have on things like the wild Pacific salmon population.
The floods last week were devastating, and indeed catastrophic. There is no other way to describe them, but they serve as a terrible reminder of the urgency and fortitude with which our government and every MP here must act to implement strong climate action and avoid such events in the future.
Our government has committed to assisting British Columbians with recovering and preparing for future extreme weather events, but the work is not yet done. Let us work together to ensure all Canadians are protected from future weather events like the one we are seeing right now in British Columbia.
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- Nov/24/21 9:05:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely. The member and I were able to sit together on the way out here and talk about the devastating effects, and I think that our government needs to invest. We have seen the impacts, and with $8 billion for one event, the magnitude could be so much greater as we experience this across the country in other regions and perhaps again in British Columbia. We are in a low-lying area against the Fraser River through the Fraser Valley, and things such as dike protection and dike reinforcement are absolutely critical. I will be discussing with members of our government that it is absolutely critical to get ahead of this. The investment dollars will save us that much more down the road.
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- Nov/24/21 9:07:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from British Columbia for that question. We absolutely need to work with all populations and all communities. Indigenous communities often have so many disadvantages, so it is important that we are there for them.
In the latest flooding event, there was money immediately made available to a number of first nations that were affected, to help get supplies and other goods into the communities and provide any assistance that was needed. We can never forget that these populations are often at risk and in need of support, and I think we all need to work together to make sure that our indigenous communities are supported through these types of events.
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- Nov/24/21 9:08:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this type of event really points out the need for urgent action on climate change, and that is why I am so proud of having run with the government on this very strong platform. In fact, it is the strongest platform of all the parties. It is a very aggressive program to deal with climate change and its effects. We are dealing with it and we will continue to push forward.
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