SoVote

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Jun/5/23 6:02:07 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table a petition on behalf of residents of British Columbia and visitors to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The petitioners call on the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to reinstate the surf guard tower and surf guard services, and to extend the duration of the surf guard program to accommodate the growing number of emergencies as well as visitors at Long Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Emergencies at Long Beach are attended by Parks Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian Coast Guard, Westcoast Inland Search and Rescue, B.C.'s Emergency Response Group and the RCMP. However, rescues initially fall into the hands of surfers, beachgoers and the surf schools that operate in the park. In February 2018, a man died at Lovekin Rock. In May 2018, in the same area, a woman died. In March 2016, four people were saved by the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Armed Forces. In August 2021, another man drowned at the same spot. Basically, lifeguards watched over that beach as part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve surf guard program for 40 years, until the Conservative government cut the program in 2012. The petitioners are calling on the government to reinstate this program so that no more lives are lost.

220 words

Context: House Hansard - 206 - Jun/5/23

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Jun/5/23 10:40:50 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-310

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the minister for her work on the emergency that we are in. I also want to thank my colleague from South Okanagan—West Kootenay for calling for this important debate today. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs just wrote an op-ed in The Globe and Mail yesterday and cited how Canada is becoming more and more reliant on over 90,000 volunteer firefighters. It also highlighted in its op-ed that, number one, it wants to make sure that the government sends a clear message to firefighters that they are needed, valued and appreciated. It highlighted that the tax benefit for firefighters who do over 200 hours of volunteer work get about a $450 benefit. They get a $3,000 tax threshold relief. They have been calling for that relief threshold to be raised from $3,000 to $10,000, and the right thing would be to support this. It is identified in my private member's bill, Bill C-310. Will the government support what is really a small token given the inflationary costs and the costs on firefighters? They are being stretched to the max. Some of them are working right now. On top of the normal work they do, they also fight wildfires. Will the government honour this ask?

220 words

Context: House Hansard - 206 - Jun/5/23

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Jun/5/23 11:07:21 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, first, I want to thank my colleague for highlighting how the smoke and the air pollution are impacting people due to fires. In fact, we were just at the all-party climate caucus, where we had representatives of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. They highlighted that seven million people worldwide, and this is according to the World Health Association, are dying from air pollution. It is rivalling smoking, which is at eight million. It is also contributing to 18% of premature deaths. The impact is severe on human health. We know we have to mitigate climate change, but actually putting out fires quickly is an important role and responsibility in doing that. Does my colleague agree that the federal government needs to ensure that we have equipment so we can tackle these fires quickly? I think of Coulson Aviation, from my riding, which is fighting fires in Argentina and Australia. It works with the federal governments there to refit their aircraft. We know the Canadian military needs to have the right equipment if it is going to support provinces in need as we see fires pop up in different parts of the country.

198 words