44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 26, 2022 11:00AM
- Sep/26/22 9:41:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in times of crisis, Cape Bretoners come together. They unite for a common purpose, healing their neighbours, helping their neighbours. With that in mind, I have to start off by thanking the member for Cape Breton—Canso for sharing his technology and his screen name with me tonight so that I might give this speech. I extend my sincere gratitude to him for accommodating me. As of the beginning of this debate, there was no power in Eskasoni, and so I have come to Sydney River in the hospitable territory of Cape Breton—Canso to deliver my speech.
Cape Breton was hit hard by hurricane Fiona. We experienced a night of howling winds, the cracking sound of trees breaking, torrential rain and unprecedented devastation. Most of our communities remain without power, running water and many are without heat. Roofs have been swept off buildings. Downed trees and power poles criss-cross streets.
In the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, giant trees were uprooted, toppling fences and homes and crushing cars. In coastal communities like Neil's Harbour, the sea swept straight into some homes leaving a foot or more of sea foam coating every surface. Internet service remains spotty, if available at all. There are long lines at every gas station with those hoping to keep generators running to keep their homes warm and their food from spoiling. Truly, this is the most devastating storm to hit our island, yet in the aftermath, I have seen some of the best of our communities as people have come together to support one another and rebuild.
I have spoken to people across the island who, despite long days, are doing everything they can to help their fellow Cape Bretoners. They are people like Lieutenant Jenelle Durdle at the Salvation Army, who is providing hot meals and warm clothes for those now in need.
I have spoken to members of our armed forces at the Victoria Park barracks who are helping in the recovery efforts, including the search for housing for those who have lost the roof over their heads and are now in need of shelter, like the residents of an apartment building on Rotary Drive in Sydney, which had 64 units, who are now without a place for their families.
I spoke with Raj at one of those apartments who pleaded for our support. He is an international student who is now left without a place to stay for weeks, potentially months. Raj and many other evacuees are now being kept warm at the Membertou First Nation convention centre where Chief Terry Paul has admirably stepped up to help his neighbours during their time of need. I have been honoured to see the Mi’kmaq communities in Cape Breton helping each other and they are now reaching out to help all those who they are privileged enough to help.
I spoke to more than 150 staff, students, cadets and volunteers at the Coast Guard College in Westmount who have transformed their institution into a welcome centre for displaced residents. This morning, along with the executive director, Dena Richardson, I spoke to them and thanked them for their bravery and courageous efforts. Despite the building itself having major damage, 40 beds are now being made available for those most in need.
Everywhere I look in the riding, there is devastation. Osborne Burke, who runs Victoria Co-operative Fisheries, a major employer in the region, has seen catastrophic damage and will require federal support in the months ahead in order to be ready for the fishing season that his community very much relies on.
Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Amanda McDougall and I have been in constant communication. She reiterated the need for infrastructure support for housing, sidewalks, seniors complexes and the major cleanup that is needed. I have reassured her that help is on the way, and that the federal government has the backs of Canadians through floods, pandemics and hurricanes. Our government has been and continues to show that we will be there for Canadians.
The Minister of Emergency Preparedness, whom I cannot thank enough, has already approved a request from the Government of Nova Scotia for immediate support to the province as it deals with the impact from hurricane Fiona. As part of this response, the Canadian Coast Guard is providing deployable incident management teams. Transport Canada's national aerial surveillance program is providing aerial imagery and recon capability.
Last year, we had a historic flood that washed away entire roads on the Cabot Trail. People said it was a once-in-a-lifetime storm. Less than a year later, we have witnessed worse. It is clear that coastal communities are now vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis. Ponds that I once played hockey on as a child no longer freeze. Yearly storms batter the Maritimes like we used to only see in places like Florida and New Orleans. We are seeing the lowest barometric pressure we have recorded in Canadian history.
The climate crisis is here. Weather events are becoming more unpredictable and more prone to extreme conditions. We like to think the effects of climate change are a far-flung forecast, but we are feeling those effects now, and we are already seeing the cost of generations of inaction.
I know Cape Bretoners are worried about their children's future. They ask themselves, “What will the storms be like for them? What can we do now to slow and reverse these weather events?” We wonder what sacrifices we need to make now to ensure a better quality of life for the next generation.
The time for the debate on the climate crisis and our need to do more is over in the eyes of Cape Bretoners. We need help today, and we also need to get past the populist bickering about putting more money in polluters' pockets at the cost of our children's future.
A Cree proverb teaches us that only when the last fish has been caught, the last river has been poisoned and the last tree has been cut will we realize that money cannot be eaten. Indigenous knowledge teaches us to plan for the next seven generations. Responsible governments know that this is not easy, but we must take those important strides. We need to do everything in our power to transition to a green economy and lessen the severity of the growing crisis, and we must invest in resiliency and climate-proof green infrastructure.
We need to ensure the price on pollution is enough to cover the cost of disaster mitigation that is needed now and even more so into the future. If there are those among us who refuse to listen to the scientists, perhaps they may listen to the Supreme Court of Canada. In March 2021, Chief Justice Richard Wagner ruled as follows:
Climate change is real. It is caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities, and it poses a grave threat to humanity's future.
Today we are fortunate in Cape Breton to be talking only about damage, and not deaths. I want to send my condolences to those regions that have experienced deaths.
However, I am convinced we could do more and go faster. Now more than ever, it is upon us, as parliamentarians, to become the environmental leaders on the world stage. Given the gravity of the situation, let our hearts and minds and the consideration of our children and grandchildren lead our decision-making.
I give these thoughts with the humble hopes that we will not succumb to selfish, short-term thinking at the cost of our future generations. As hard as it is, let us think together about the next seven generations of Canadians. Wela'lioq.
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- Sep/26/22 9:49:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we need to do is move fast.
However, to blame this disaster on bureaucrats or gatekeepers or whatever terminology the member wants to use is not seeing the actual problem in front of us. The actual problem is climate change. These disasters will happen, and they will continue to happen. We have seen it up north. We have seen it in the west. We have seen it in the east. To try to blame it on the bureaucracy is ingenuine to the actual problem that we must face.
I would ask the member if he believes climate change is real, like the Supreme Court of Canada has said. Are the member and his party willing to act so that Nova Scotians will not have to deal with this in the future?
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- Sep/26/22 9:51:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is an important question.
In the Mi’kmaq culture and in the Mi’kmaq language we have a term called netukulimk. It reminds us that we have a responsibility to each other, we have a responsibility to our communities and we have a responsibility to our nation.
We also have a responsibility to our ecosystem, one that we too often forget at the cost of profits and at the cost of money in our pocket. We have lost that connection to our ecosystem and that responsibility to our ecosystem. We need to relearn that. We need to teach our children. As parliamentarians we need to work together to find answers we can all agree on that say that we realize this is an existential threat, and as a minority government we are willing to take the steps needed to safeguard our children's future.
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- Sep/26/22 9:53:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her comments and her years of advocacy on this important file. It is one of the things that we learned growing up in an indigenous community, that within a language we are all connected. That is an important thing that I try to remind myself of daily, but I think the answers are not only in indigenous knowledge but in collaboration within this House. The answers are within us. We are in a minority government. We need to work together, like in our all-party caucus on environment. We need to start meeting more frequently. We need to start having these conversations in a way that I know the member has led for many years, and I thank her for those efforts. However, I want to hold on to hope in this government, that we all see what is going on and that we are all ready to act.
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