- Member of Parliament
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence
- Liberal
- Surrey Centre
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $147,142.20
- Government Page
- Dec/1/21 2:08:56 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians living in coastal regions from east to west have been hit hard by extreme weather in the last few days, from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, all the way to British Columbia. My send my sincere condolences to everyone from coast to coast who have been impacted by the flooding, who have had damage to homes, farms, livestock, business and infrastructure, and who have had to leave their homes.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank just a few of the many local organizations in Surrey that leapt into action as water levels rose in British Columbia last week: the Akal Sewa Foundation, Guru Nanak's Free Kitchen, the Guru Nanak Food Bank, the Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib, the Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Khalsa Aid, Maskeen Farms and the members of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
I thank everyone who stepped up to support their neighbours in need, and I am thinking of all those who are hoping to get back to their homes and communities.
177 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/24/21 9:23:12 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on his election and representing the constituents of Edmonton Griesbach.
The government will do whatever it takes. This is a very essential time. As we have seen, even without natural climate disasters, due to the COVID situation globally, supply chains have been even more imperative. They have to be examined and ensured, particularly for indigenous communities, remote communities and communities in the interior, so we will do whatever it takes.
76 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/24/21 9:21:03 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work to be done, absolutely. It is essential to control the growth of the temperature rising. As my colleague from Cloverdale—Langley City alluded to earlier, we must do more. Canada is warming faster than many other countries around the globe. We have a huge watershed in our Arctic that we have to preserve, which is kind of the coolant of the globe, and therefore we must do more. Otherwise, these disastrous events will happen.
We need support from across the aisle on this issue and it should be bipartisan or tripartisan with all parties in this matter.
106 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/24/21 9:19:31 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely essential. As we know, the environment does not pick borders or see boundaries and we have to work with our American and global counterparts for many things. In this particular place, we have to work with our partners to the south to make sure they make the same mitigation efforts, the same diking and restoration efforts, so that this does not happen again. Deep collaborations among the provincial and state governments and the two federal governments would have to take place. I will encourage and definitely speak to our ministers of global affairs so they can talk to their counterparts on the U.S. side.
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/24/21 9:09:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful that this emergency debate is taking place tonight to discuss the devastating flooding in my home province of British Columbia. As we anticipate more heavy rain coming this week, the actions that we take and the preparations that are made in the coming days will be very important to support those who will be impacted by future storms.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my condolences to all those affected by the destruction, particularly those in Merritt, Abbotsford, Chilliwack or Hope, including constituents of my colleagues in Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, from Abbotsford and from Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon.
The loss and devastation that we have seen over the past week is heartbreaking. There has been a loss of life, evacuations and people left stranded. Within just a few days, 18,000 were forced to leave their homes and critical infrastructure like highways and railroads in and out of the province were severely damaged.
I would also like to thank all of those who have been working around the clock to support the residents impacted and to those who have stepped up to help their neighbours in the face of these challenging times. British Columbians have faced a great deal of devastation caused by extreme weather and natural disasters. In its look back at the 2021 B.C. wildfire season, the CBC reported 1,600 fires across 8,700 square kilometres in the province this year alone.
This has been the third largest area impacted in recorded history in a summer filled with drought and record-breaking heatwaves. Just last month as we moved into autumn, a time when forest fire season would usually come to an end, we still had 140 fires burning in the province. The consequences of this year's wildfires could be a contributing factor to the flooding experienced in my region.
The B.C. Ministry of Forests described how after intense fire, soil can become repellent to water, causing water to run off and pool rather than be absorbed by the soil. This can lead to landslides and floods after heavy rains or quick-melting snow. This shows the ripple effects that climate change can have. The more extreme heat and natural disasters we experience, the more disasters they may trigger in the future.
If this is not a sign to climate change deniers that climate change is real and here, I do not know what else it will take. On this side of the chamber, we know that the science is clear: human activities are causing unprecedented changes to the earth's climate. Climate change poses significant risks to human health and safety of the environment. It impacts biodiversity and economic growth. Across the country each year, flooding alone leads to more than $1 billion in direct damages to homes, businesses and infrastructure. We know that we cannot afford to not address climate change.
We must continue to take swift and decisive action to address the consequences of climate change, work to lower emissions levels, reduce our consumption and find innovative solutions to reach net-zero. Our government is doing just that. In just the last year, our government has invested $60 billion toward climate action and clean growth and an additional $53.6 billion into Canada's green recovery. Since we formed government, we have invested $100 billion to address climate change.
By moving forward to cap and cut oil and gas sector emissions, we are making investments in public transit and mandating the sale of zero-emission vehicles. We are increasing our price on pollution and we are protecting our lands and rivers.
To address climate change adaptation, we invested an additional $1.4 billion toward the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund to further support projects such as wildfire mitigation activities, rehabilitation of stormwater systems and restoration of wetlands and shorelines.
In fact, in 2019, the federal Liberal government funded $76 million, through the $2-billion disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, for Surrey, in partnership with the Semiahmoo First Nation to upgrade 7.5 kilometres of the Nicomeki and Serpentine sea dams, the Colebrook Dike, and upgrade two pump stations and two dikes, but we must do more.
We have been working with provinces and territories to complete flood maps for higher risk areas, supported first nations and Inuit as they managed the health impacts of climate change such as access to food, impacts of extreme weather events and mental health impacts of climate change on youth.
Our government will continue to invest in our workers and our industry to help bring Canada into the economy of the future while we take action to clean our air and protect Canadians from extreme weather events like the ones we are currently experiencing in B.C. As Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon said in the Speech from the Throne yesterday, “in a time of crisis, we know how Canadians respond. We step up and we are there for each other. And the government will continue to be there for the people of British Columbia.” Canadians are stepping up.
I had the opportunity to see this first-hand last week, when I joined a team of volunteers delivering food and supplies to Hope and Yale, B.C. This was made possible by the generosity of the Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib in Surrey, Richberry farms' Peter Dhillon and the Guru Nanak Food Bank. I thank those who stepped up for their communities and neighbours during the challenging times.
I saw first-hand how people felt scared, isolated and anxious, whether it was from sleeping in their cars for days or from whether they could have bread or milk as the shelves in the stores were bare. When disaster first struck in B.C., search and rescue teams from Comox helped rescue motorists who had been stranded in dangerous conditions. The Canadian Armed Forces on the ground supported relief and mitigation efforts. When remote communities were cut off by landslides and road closures, the Air Task Force members helped deliver essential food and supplies. They delivered over 6,000 pounds of supplies to the Nooaitch and Nicomen first nations communities so far, including critical staples like fresh milk, eggs and potatoes.
Thousands of Canadian Armed Forces members are on standby and will be on their way to assist those most impacted by the tragedy, if needed. I thank the members of the Canadian military for their work, which includes everything from evacuations, rescuing livestock, sandbagging areas at risk of flooding and assisting with infrastructure repairs. We are so grateful for their commitment to keeping British Columbians safe on the ground during this difficult time.
Our government is working closely with provincial counterparts in British Columbia. We recently approved their request for federal assistance from the province for help with its emergency response to the extreme widespread flooding. Indigenous Services Canada also approved a funding request of $4.4 million in additional funding to the First Nations' Emergency Services Society of British Columbia to support it as it assists first nations in their response to the widespread flooding caused by the recent atmospheric river event.
Our government has also been helping residents return home who have been left stranded in the flooded areas where roads have been inaccessible. A local team from my constituency of Surrey Centre, the Surrey Thunder U11 boys hockey team, was on its way to a tournament nearly 400 kilometres away from home and was left stranded with no accessible route home through Canada due to the road damage caused by the flooding. Thanks to the coordination on both sides of the border, including of our government officials, CBSA officers, U.S. immigration and many more who were involved, we were able to get them home safely.
As British Columbians brace for the expected heavy rains coming at the end of this week, our government is watching closely and will stand with the people of British Columbia and continue to work with our provincial counterparts to ensure the safety and well-being of British Columbians.
I would like to close today by acknowledging that there are colleagues from British Columbia who are represented across party lines in the House. I hope that, as we begin the 44th Parliament, we can come together and do what we must do to support all those impacted by these devastating events and the many other challenging situations Canadians are facing across this country. To everyone in B.C. impacted by the floods, please take care and stay safe.
1438 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
