Evidence of meeting #88 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was management.
A recording is available from Parliament.
1:25 p.m.
Professor and Researcher, Université du Québec à Montréal, As an Individual
Yes, that would be optimal. However, we still need to take a national view, given that borders are often crossed.
1:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Thank you.
Mr. Bachrach will be the last speaker, because he has to leave after and we won’t have a quorum. However, we will try to invite the witnesses for 30 minutes another time so that they can finish answering our questions.
Mr. Bachrach, you have the floor.
1:25 p.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for being here today.
Noting that we have only five minutes left in the meeting, I'd like to move the motion that was put on notice several days ago.
I move:
That, given the importance of freshwater ecosystem services to the prosperity, sustainability, and resilience of British Columbian communities, and given the increasingly severe impacts of climate change including drought, wildfires—
1:25 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
Mr. Bachrach reads a little too fast. Without the text, the interpreter can’t provide an adequate interpretation.
1:25 p.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I'd be happy to.
Mr. Chair, I would like to move the motion that was put on notice several days ago. I'll try to do this nice and slow so it's interpreted for our colleagues.
I move:
That, given the importance of freshwater ecosystem services to the prosperity, sustainability, and resilience of British Columbian communities, and given the increasingly severe impacts of climate change including drought, wildfires, and floods, the committee urge the federal government to work with the Government of British Columbia to establish a $1 billion watershed security fund; that the Committee report this to the House; and that the government table a written response.
If I could speak to this briefly, Mr. Chair, I found the testimony of Mr. Jesse Zeman, from the BC Wildlife Federation, particularly compelling. He laid out the watershed restoration work that his organization's members have conducted over the past number of years. Looking at notes from that meeting, it looks like, since 2021, the BC Wildlife Federation has delivered over 230 projects and over 10 million dollars' worth of on-the-ground restoration. Their partners include first nations, environmental NGOs, local communities, private landowners, the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.
Speaking of the Province of British Columbia, the province I live in has recently committed an investment of $100 million to this watershed security fund. I think that this vision of a billion-dollar fund that can go into the sort of grassroots activity that Mr. Zeman was speaking to represents a really exciting opportunity. A broad cross-section of British Columbia is engaged in this work. I think it brings together groups from different sectors to work together toward the security of freshwater ecosystems. Particularly in the wake of the atmospheric rivers that we saw in B.C. and the class 5 drought this year, which was really devastating for our region's farmers, this work has never been more important than it is now.
I think that, with this idea of working with the Province of B.C., with private philanthropic investors and the federal government, we can put together a fund that is large enough to make a significant difference in our watersheds.
Maybe, Mr. Chair, I'll leave it at that. I think that Ms. Botelho, who presented earlier in this meeting from Watersheds BC, also spoke to the importance of this work. If the committee can send a strong message to the federal government that they want to see this kind of matching investment....
Here's what I want to note, Mr. Chair: The federal government's freshwater action plan to date has seen a sizable investment in the Great Lakes and in Lake Winnipeg. Of the $70.5 million that's been committed, $44.8 million has gone to the Great Lakes, and $25.7 million to Lake Winnipeg. In British Columbia, we see a provincial government that is very motivated to work on these freshwater issues—the issues of watershed security. I think it really behooves the federal government to come to the table with a matching investment, so we can build this fund and empower the kind of grassroots work that Mr. Zeman was talking about.
With that, Mr. Chair, and noting that it's exactly 1:30, I would like to move that this motion be postponed until Tuesday, December 5, at 11 a.m.
1:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
I guess we vote on that.
(Motion agreed to: yeas 10; nays 0)
We're going to be debating this on the 5th. We're losing quorum now, so the meeting is essentially adjourned.
We will be asking the witnesses if they can participate for another half-hour at another time via video conference.
Thank you very much to the witnesses. Hopefully we'll see you soon via video conference.
Thank you.