Hon. Robert Black: Honourable senators, I rise to speak about the impacts of Hurricane Fiona in the Atlantic region of Canada.

While I am not from the region myself, my focus in this chamber is agriculture, and the Atlantic region is certainly known for its fair share of the industry. From potatoes and wild blueberries to lobsters and dairy, agriculture in its many forms represents one of the biggest sectors in the east.

As we have heard in this chamber this week, this devastating storm has taken lives, destroyed property and left hundreds of thousands without power. Even without the added threat of tropical storms, autumn is one of the most important, and stressful, seasons for our agricultural communities as it coincides with the harvest.

Sadly, this powerful storm hit the East Coast’s fishing and farming industries unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes. In fact, some farmers and fruit growers say they’re worried that they could lose a whole season’s worth of work as a result. Unfortunately, we don’t know the extent of the losses yet. Only time will tell the true cost of this storm.

Earlier this week, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture — a lifelong resident of Prince Edward Island — Mary Robinson took time out of dealing with the storm’s aftermath to speak with me about the destruction and impacts on the agricultural community. She shared with me that:

Many farm families have lost buildings that are integral to their operations. We are seeing significantly greater losses than we’ve ever seen. The Atlantic region needs some kind of prioritization — whether it’s tarp building for dairy farmers or getting manpower out here to clear trees and reinstate electricity to ensure that warehouses that store our crops can actually receive the shipments. We will need to patchwork our way through this harvest season.

CFA President Robinson also highlighted the need for measures to enhance business risk management programs and to strengthen and secure supply chains, all of which will help support Eastern Canada during this challenging time. I am hopeful that governments of all levels will work proactively with the affected region to support their recovery.

At this time, I’d like to thank the many organizations that have already offered their assistance to those in need. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the important role that agriculture must play in our fight against climate change.

Honourable colleagues, agriculture is one of the most severely impacted sectors, and there can no longer be a disconnect between the Canadian agricultural industry and our climate targets. In just the past few years, we have seen the heat dome, the floods in British Columbia and Hurricane Fiona decimate agricultural communities. We cannot continue to expect the industry to work alone, without the support of the federal government, in making their operations greener, cleaner and more sustainable for generations to come.

Thank you, meegwetch.