QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
Northern Resupply
June 4, 2024
Welcome to the Senate, Minister Lebouthillier.
I would like to talk about the Canadian Coast Guard and your department’s activities in the Arctic.
More specifically, I would like to focus on the government’s commitment to supporting the summer resupply of communities in Canada’s North.
Can you tell us about your work with Transport Canada and your partners in the North to make sure that supplies get to northerners quickly and effectively?
We all know that summers are short up north and that we need to make the most of the little time we have to supply the North with the goods and supplies it needs for the whole year.
We are working very closely with Transport Canada and northern communities, which are important partners in supplying northern communities.
We are also seeing the effects of climate change in the North since they’re happening much more quickly there. That even caused delivery problems this winter. We were unable to use the ice roads. It is important to work with people to do things right and to give them access to the products they need.
I’m particularly interested in your department’s work because it plays either a leading or a supporting role in shipping building materials to meet some of the main housing needs in the North.
What steps is your department taking to meet those needs and help speed up construction projects?
We know that residential housing construction slowed in all three territories in 2023, which suggests there will likely be housing shortages in the future.
We also know that many housing units don’t provide adequate or appropriate living conditions.
As I said, we’re working closely with northern communities in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon, and with other departments involved in ensuring that northern communities can access the goods they need.
