Jaime Battiste

Mr. Speaker, indigenous rights are not an obstacle to building Canada strong. They are part of the foundation on which we will build it. As part of our duty to consult, we heard directly from more than 130 indigenous communities across Alberta and B.C. Where appropriate, accommodations will be made. Further consultations will inform conditions for Pacific link guided by UNDRIP and anchored in the principle of free, prior and informed consent. We will always respect the rights of indigenous people.

Madam Speaker, we will continue to work with indigenous communities across Canada, and as part of the work moving forward to ensure that we get these projects over time, the key criteria in this is to ensure that we advance indigenous interests with meaningful participation, meaningful equity and meaningful partnership. We are going to continue to build with first nations communities, and we are going to continue to ensure that we are all moving forward together.

Madam Speaker, let me reiterate what we are saying on this side of the board. Indigenous rights are not an obstacle for building Canada strong; they are part of the foundation on which we will build it. We will continue to work with first nations communities. We will continue to work with indigenous people. On this side of the House, we respect constitutional rights and we respect consultation. We will continue to do so.

Madam Speaker, on this side of the House we believe in economic reconciliation. That means, when we are advancing projects that are important to this country, that we ensure we are advancing indigenous interests, which means, and I will say it again for the other side so they hear it loud and clear, we are making sure it is meaningful partnership, meaningful equity and meaningful participation in all projects moving forward. Indigenous communities will build together with the government.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the private member's bill from the member for Terrebonne, Bill C-241, an act to establish a national strategy respecting flood and drought forecasting. This bill is not just important to the country; it is really important to my riding of Cape Breton—Canso—Antigonish. During the Labour Day weekend in September this year, for the second time in less than two weeks, my riding was hit by heavy rain and major flooding that resulted in damage to homes, roads, bridges, small businesses, and major infrastructure that connects various parts of Cape Breton, which is still being rebuilt today. For days I toured around the riding, listening to constituents who have gotten far too used to the impacts of climate change and weather-related events, witnessing the damage that came from the heavy flooding from more than 140 millimetres of rain in some areas to more than 200 millimetres in other areas, and seeing the damage to homes and small businesses. The forecasted amount of the damages is over $20 million right now. It has been catastrophic for Cape Breton, which had three separate state of emergencies called in less than 24 hours. The most tragic part of this was to hear that in Richmond county, the flood took the life of a Cape Breton woman. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. Major weather events are happening frequently in my riding of Cape Breton—Canso—Antigonish. In Nova Scotia, during my time as a member of Parliament over the last seven years, three times we have had to access the disaster financing arrangement because of weather-related emergencies due to hurricanes, heavy rainfalls and heavy snowfalls that we have not seen in generations or decades. No member of the House wants to have expertise in accessing and talking about disaster financing arrangements, but unfortunately, during my time as a member of Parliament, I have gotten so used to accessing the disaster fund that I have come to know it well. It is good that we have a disaster financing arrangement when these major weather-related events happen, that we are there for the provinces, municipalities and first nations communities. Up to 90% of the funding is covered by the federal government as part of major weather-related disasters. These programs are designed by provincial governments, they put the bill in and we pay it. Sometimes I wonder if we are just rebuilding without thoughts to the future about what we need to do to mitigate further disasters. I want to be clear that the science and data have told us for more than a decade that climate change will impact northern and coastal communities first. In fact, when I was first elected, I went to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which highlighted what climate change would mean to the north, to coastal communities and to indigenous communities, which are often in flood zones. The unfortunate part is that the situation is not an anomaly but is becoming a pattern. From the science and research we have heard with respect to these rainstorms, hurricanes and other weather-related events, over the next 50 years, the rain will not decrease but will increase to amounts of up to 20% to 30% greater than they currently are. This is why we need a national strategy to improve flood forecasting in Canada as proposed by the bill. It is why I support the bill. It is why, more than ever, we need to work not only to rebuild, but also to have the research and capacity to prevent future floods. We need to build back not just better but also more resilient, and we must flag the areas where we know drainage needs to be improved. It is concerning to see that infrastructure that was just fixed two or three years ago after the previous disaster is once again washing away due to severe rain and flooding. We have to figure out how to mitigate and adapt to the future of climate change. We need the research, the technology and the capacity. We need to use all the resources at our disposal to make sure we have a strategy moving forward and that we are able to build to ensure that the work we are doing addresses climate change and adapts to climate change. Canada has significant research capacity in hydrological monitoring. This bill would examine the opportunities to build on this existing capacity and the expertise of our academics. Let us ensure that, with this private member's bill, through this important flood strategy, we make the necessary investments and do the necessary work so that no MP in the House has to stand up to talk about a constituent they lost in their riding due to weather-related events that could have been prevented. I would like to thank the member for Terrebonne for her private member's bill and her commitment to the environment. It is, indeed, important that we continue to do the work. Not only is she a strong advocate for the environment but for the work that we need to do to address climate change, and I thank her immensely for that. This bill captures the spirit of collaboration and co-operation by ensuring that we would use provincial, territorial and indigenous knowledge to inform a national strategy that can help prevent floods and droughts and allow us to better plan for emergencies. This strategy would be a way to have the entire country speak the same language and share expertise in order to close the gaps so that all communities across the country are safer. In closing, I want to talk a bit about someone who helps my understanding and our responsibility toward the environment, and that is Dr. Albert Marshall, an elder from Eskasoni in my community. He is renowned throughout Canada not only for his work in indigenous knowledge and his commitment to the environment, but also for his belief that we must use indigenous knowledge and western knowledge in a two-eyed seeing approach to help us ensure that we are consciously aware of the things that we are doing moving forward that impact our environment. I want to highlight that this bill follows the same approach and explicitly provides for consultation with indigenous governing bodies to ensure the strategy is designed with both indigenous and western knowledge in mind. Elder Albert Marshall always taught me that we are interdependent and interconnected to all elements of the environment. In Mi'kmaq terminology we call it “netukulimk”, and it teaches us that we have responsibilities not only to each other and our communities but also to our environment. It is important for us, when we are looking at this strategy moving forward, that we develop this with balance in mind, living in balance with our environment. This private member's bill encourages us to do so, and I am glad to support it. A national strategy would ensure that we are prepared for the impacts of the heavy rain, floods and weather-related events that are to come, but this important piece of legislation would help us ensure that we are mitigating the damage to come and make our country a safer place for all Canadians.