- Member of Parliament
- Minister of National Defence
- Liberal
- Scarborough Southwest
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $115,019.32
- Government Page
- Jun/12/23 3:09:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we see an increase in the severity and frequency of weather-related disasters, we recognize the importance of ensuring that Canadians have access to affordable and accessible home insurance.
It is why we have been working with the insurance industry, first of all, to develop a national flood insurance plan, but also to ensure that Canadians have all of the tools that they need to manage risks, including home insurance.
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- May/29/23 3:15:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are currently 179 wildfires burning in Canada, 68 of which are out of control. Those fires are in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Over 20,000 people have been evacuated from their communities, and nearly a million hectares of forest have been lost to these fires. Frankly, this season has begun weeks ahead of what we would normally anticipate. These fires are occurring at unprecedented levels.
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- Dec/6/21 7:13:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have a point of clarification, as perhaps I did not make myself clear in my articulation. What we put in budget 2021 was $1.4 billion for the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. This is not for a study, but to begin to do some of the important work. I will also tell the member that in Lower Mainland B.C. and Abbotsford, as well as in many places right across the country, we know that work needs to be done.
Let me also acknowledge that parts of the United States, which in many ways has been ahead of us on this, have invested in creating a more resilient infrastructure to deal with the potential of disasters in its communities. However, this work is ongoing, with collaboration between our two countries.
We recognize that water does not respect international boundaries. It does not flow north to south; it flows downhill. When the Nooksack River overflows its banks, the water tends to head right up the Sumas Prairie. It was not solely responsible for the flooding that took place but was a part of it.
We will work with the Government of the United States, Washington state, the B.C. government and the communities impacted to make a difference.
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- Dec/6/21 7:09:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my friend from Langley—Aldergrove for his collaboration on this really important issue.
He is absolutely correct: I recently travelled to Abbotsford. It is not the first time I have been to Abbotsford, nor the first time I have met with Mayor Braun. I am aware of the extraordinary impact the recent flooding events have had on that community and the many other parts of the Lower Mainland of B.C. that have been impacted.
I regret to tell my friend that I did not bring a chequebook with me today, but I have some other good news that I think will respond to his inquiry.
When this terrible event began, I was in regular contact with the B.C. government about it. In the earliest hours, the Canadian Armed Forces responded. To provide some critically important labour, 650 members of the Canadian Armed Forces arrived in the Abbotsford area and have helped with diking, repairs and sandbagging. I went there and witnessed the exceptional work they were doing, and they were doing it alongside the people of the communities that were impacted. Frankly, it made me proud, as I am sure it does my friend from Langley—Aldergrove, to be a Canadian to watch how people responded in these very difficult times.
I acknowledge that important work needs to be done. However, one of the things we have seen over the past several years is an increase in the amount of money the Government of Canada has been expending on disaster financial assistance, through the arrangements we have with the provinces and territories, in response to flooding events. In fact, some of the analysis shows that we can expect it, as a direct result of climate change, to rise exponentially, to five times its current level of expenditure. It is so important that we invest significantly in disaster mitigation and adaptation in all of those areas to ensure we have resilient infrastructure. The diking system to which my friend refers is a very important part of that.
As I am sure he is also aware, the diking system was initially the responsibility of the provincial government, but it was downloaded to the municipality. Mayor Braun shared with me, as I suspect he shared with my friend, that because the municipality draws its resources from property taxes, it was unable to make the investments and do the work that was necessary. I spoke with the Premier of British Columbia and he said that was a mistake.
We have also set up a joint committee with the provinces and the territories, and I am insisting that municipalities be involved in it as well. We will invest federal dollars to accompany provincial dollars, and will work with the municipality to repair those dikes to ensure that we build a greater resilience for the community. Building back is not good enough; we need to build back better. I know that is sometimes an overused phrase, but we recognize the importance of investing in that.
Last year, in budget 2021, we committed $1.4 million to the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. We know where those dollars will need to be spent, and although there is no chequebook today, I want to assure my friend that we will be there with the people of British Columbia. That is a very important community in this country given the farm work that goes on there. We have seen the resilience of its people, and we need to make sure their community is resilient as well.
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- Nov/30/21 2:58:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just last Friday, I visited again with Mayor Braun, along with the Prime Minister, and we heard first-hand the problems they have had. They acknowledged at the time, as did the premier of British Columbia, that many years ago the responsibility for maintaining those dikes was downloaded to the municipalities and they did not have the capacity to do it. We have made a commitment to British Columbia and to the people impacted by these floods that we will be there for them during the rebuild. We will ensure that we are adaptive and create a greater resiliency for those communities, rebuilding in a way that is respectful of the impact that so many of these climate-related events are having on that community.
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- Nov/24/21 7:25:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his advocacy on behalf of the community.
I know the mayor of Abbotsford well. I visited that town, and whenever I go to that town, I make a point of going to see the mayor. I know he is a strong advocate for his community.
I also want to acknowledge the event that has just transpired with an absolutely incredible amount of rainfall falling in that basin, although I am a little reluctant to use the term “unprecedented”. That water is going in and obviously almost overcoming the existing diking system. I thank God it did not, and underscore that it is the result of the incredible work of people from Chilliwack coming down and helping to sandbag it at the Barrowtown Pump Station. This managed to save that circumstance.
It is very clear that we need to make significant new investments. I can also tell members that there are approximately 120 Canadian Armed Forces members in Abbotsford today, and they are helping to restore that dike. In order to deal with that weather event, we are watching the weather very closely over the next several days. There will be up to 70 millimetres of rain falling in the Fraser Valley over the coming 10 or 11 days, so we are making sure that the infrastructure is there in the short term. In the long term, there is much more work to do.
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- Nov/24/21 7:14:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to have the opportunity to rise in the House to contribute to the discussion with my parliamentary colleagues about the tragic flooding that has been impacting British Columbia. I would like to begin by acknowledging the friends and families of those who have lost loved ones and all those who have been impacted by these floods, landslides and extreme weather conditions in B.C., not just during the most recent floods but also through the very challenging times last summer with wildfires occurring and the extreme weather event that also impacted that province.
This is also an opportunity to extend our thanks and gratitude to the first responders, search-and-rescue volunteers, emergency managers and Canadian Armed Forces members who have been working tirelessly to keep people safe during this difficult time. I would also like to acknowledge community leaders, mayors, police chiefs, fire chiefs and ordinary citizens who demonstrated compassion, courage and extraordinary citizenship in standing up and being there for their fellow citizens.
I would like to provide the House with a brief update. The situation on the ground overall continues to improve, in terms of dropping river levels and incremental progress on damage assessment, repair and restoration and community support. River advisories and warnings continue to be downgraded as river flows return to normal. The provincial emergency order remains in effect until December 1, and as we continue to work closely with the Province of British Columbia to support its recovery, Canadians can be assured that the federal government remains vigilant and will be ready to respond to all evolving threats related to this emergency.
Last week, I received a request from the government of the Province of British Columbia for assistance. This included a request for air support to evacuate people affected by the floods, to reach important supply routes disrupted by the floods, to help vulnerable, stranded people in distress and to provide personnel to mitigate the effects of the floods, including protecting critical infrastructure, access roads and properties. I can advise the House that over 500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces have answered that call, and are deployed on the ground providing support and services to the people of British Columbia.
We have also been working collaboratively to coordinate communications with the B.C. government and our colleagues to ensure that people are kept well informed to take actions to keep themselves safe and to recover from this very difficult experience. We remain committed to strengthening and addressing national standards for public alerts so that Canadians, regardless of where they live, will receive timely notification of any threats and have the knowledge to make informed and safe decisions.
In times of emergency such as this, I am also pleased to note that many of us have been able to set aside our partisan affiliations to come together for the residents of British Columbia. Over the past week, I have had the privilege to meet with and to brief the local members of Parliament's constituents impacted most significantly by this flood. Both Conservative and NDP members have come together to meet with me and provide information and support to ensure that I was informed. They have been extremely active in bringing forward the concerns and needs of their constituents. I want to thank them for their collaboration and working together.
I also want to advise the House that our government has initiated a whole-of-government response and has convened three meetings of the incident response group in order to respond. Each of the ministers of the government was asked to provide the steps they are taking to address the province's most pressing needs. As a small example, the Minister of Employment mentioned this past weekend that British Columbians who had lost their jobs or been displaced could and should apply for EI online as soon as possible, even without records of employment. To alleviate pressures on indigenous communities, Indigenous Services Canada's emergency management assistance program is providing $4.4 million to the First Nations' Emergency Services Society. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working very closely with the industry to support the humane and safe transport of animals and disposal of livestock that have died in this event. Health Canada is supporting its provincial health counterparts that have been so heavily affected by COVID, but also in their response to the recent flooding. The Canadian Coast Guard is engaged in responding to a large number of reports of drifting, sunken and beached vessels. There are many other examples.
As a direct response to a request from the B.C. government, there has also been an effort to change the exemptions for people living in the Lower Mainland to cross into the United States to obtain gas and other essential goods, such as fuel. Notwithstanding some early inconsistencies, additional guidance has been offered to both CBSA and the Public Health Agency. I am informed that this is now working very effectively and we are taking care of those cases that were mishandled in the first place.
Again, I would like to thank my colleagues for bringing those concerns forward and enabling us to quickly and effectively answer those questions. There are a number of other things I am happy to share with my colleagues. I would invite those who have questions or concerns, or want to bring concerns of their constituents to my attention, to reach out to me. I will respond quickly and I am grateful for their help.
I also see this debate today as an opportunity for us to reflect on how we can work together not only to reassure those who have been affected by the flooding, but to let them know we are focused on their needs by demonstrating our shared commitment to serving Canadians in some of the most difficult times they face. This also gives us an opportunity to perhaps be forward-leaning: not just reacting to what has transpired but changing the way in which we prepare for these events in the future. It allows us to acknowledge that in rebuilding from the damage that has impacted so many, we must also think about building back a more resilient Canada to ensure that critical infrastructure can withstand the impact of climate change.
This was echoed yesterday in the Speech from the Throne, in which we acknowledged the need to take action to prevent and prepare for extreme weather events brought about by climate change. We are seeing an increase in the number and severity of natural disasters. On average, Canada is warming twice as quickly as the rest of the world, and our north three times as quickly.
The science and experience of Canadians make this point clear: We must do more and we must act now to prepare this country for climate-impacted reality. The events of the past two years, including the pandemic, have shone a light on emergency management in Canada. Since January 2020, via the Government Operations Centre, the Government of Canada has supported 147 requests for federal assistance from the provinces and territories to respond to everything from the ongoing pandemic to wildfires, floods and winter storms.
However, we cannot be solely reactive. We need to better prepare for emergencies and strengthen our infrastructure, and that is why the government has created the stand-alone Ministry of Emergency Preparedness. I want to thank the Prime Minister for his confidence in assigning me this new role. In this role, I will be reaching out to our partners across the emergency management spectrum, including all orders of government, indigenous leaders, industry, the voluntary sector, academia and partners across the federal government to advance the work in this area that is increasingly a priority. Together we will create a more resilient, sustainable approach to emergency management that will help Canada prepare to mitigate, respond to and recover from disasters and we will be undertaking an effort to build a national culture of emergency preparedness.
This partnership approach has been evident in some of our most recent work. For example, at an FPT ministers' meeting we recently released the emergency management strategy for Canada, which identifies shared priorities that will strengthen Canada's resilience by 2030. The priority area in this strategy is to improve our understanding of disaster risks in all areas of society and how we can work together to minimize these risks.
For example, in budget 2019, we funded public safety over five years to improve Canada's ability to predict and respond to hazards, developing a national risk profile in collaboration with federal, provincial and territorial partners, as well as municipal and indigenous partners. It is a strategic national disaster risk and capability assessment that uses scientific evidence and stakeholder input to create a forward-looking picture of Canada's natural disasters and risks. It is based on scientific findings from various departments, other jurisdictions and research institutes, and it is clear that we need to strengthen our readiness to respond quickly and effectively to disaster events. One example of this is the work we have been doing to fund and support the Canadian Red Cross. Through this funding, the Red Cross has been able to strengthen its capacity and bring its expertise to help Canadians in long-term care facilities, isolation sites, and testing and vaccination sites as well as to facilities to help those who have been displaced by natural disasters.
We are also leading work on the co-development of Canada's first national adaptation strategy. This will help Canada respond to the shared reality of climate-change impacts by uniting all orders of government, indigenous people and private companies in a whole-of-society approach to climate-change adaptation.
The impact in British Columbia reminds us that flooding continues to be the most frequent and costly natural disaster in Canada, causing on average over $1 billion in direct damage to homes, property and infrastructure annually. The events in British Columbia will significantly raise this average. An estimated $8.5 billion has been committed to provinces through disaster financial assistance arrangements since they were created in 1970; however, 97% of these costs have been incurred over the past 25 years, and we are seeing an exponential increase in these expenses. As the member opposite mentioned, there is also the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund for disaster financial assistance.
All of those things will be available, but I want to assure him that, in our conversations with the provinces and territories, it is clear we have to make more significant investments to help our provincial and territorial partners build critical infrastructure that is sustainable, resilient and adaptive to the new climate reality.
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