QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety

Government leader, local leaders from the Sumas Prairie in British Columbia have repeatedly called on the federal government for support to protect their homes, businesses and agricultural land from future flooding. I also had stakeholders, B.C. farmers visit this week, and they raised a concern about what happened in 2021 when the Nooksack River flooded from Washington State. The flood waters came in and flooded the Sumas Prairie — the valley — and the devastation was just unimaginable. Nothing has happened since then, and with the recent flood, we had damage there.

Can you explain to Canadians why your government has not stepped up with meaningful investments in flood-mitigation infrastructure in the Sumas Prairie? There is a role for the federal government here.

I agree that there is a role for the federal government. Minister Olszewski and Minister Robertson met with British Columbia’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Kelly Greene, to discuss the impact of the flooding in 2021 and 2025 that you were referring to. The discussion focused on recovery efforts and ongoing work under way to strengthen flood resilience across the Sumas Prairie and Fraser Valley. The government continues to work closely with the Province of British Columbia to build back better through the modernized Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements, which now support proactive flood risk mitigation.

Discussions have taken place but no action has happened, which is typical of this government. The Sumas Prairie is a vital agricultural and economic corridor contributing billions of dollars to Canada’s economy, food safety and essential supply chains.

Do you believe it’s fair for your government to leave municipalities to shoulder most of the burden in protecting their land, livelihoods and communities from repeated flooding? No more talk. We need action.

I mentioned the actions that have been taken in my previous answer. The world has changed, with major flooding becoming more severe and more frequent. Strengthening flood mitigation is essential to protecting British Columbians going forward and all Canadians as a whole. That’s exactly the discussion that we have with British Columbia. This is action. I guess that the province is quite happy with the discussions that are going on between them and the federal government at this time.