Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, members of the committee. I am very happy to be here with you today.
The Conseil régional de l'environnement (CRE) covers the territory of Laval. There are 16 regional environmental councils in Quebec, serving the entire region, with the exception of the far north. The regional councils are created by environmental organizations and by the public. They are grassroots organizations.
For the past 16 years, the Conseil régional de l'environnement de Laval has been working on the protection, conservation and development of natural environments, land use planning, public transport, waste management and so on. We have a small team of four professionals. We have an urban planner, a geographer, an ecologist and myself, working in environment and ecology.
Since the 1950s, our land use planning has had a major impact on our ecosystems and natural environments. We are actually exceeding the capacity of our ecosystems, meaning water, air and soil. That means that we are currently eating up capital. We are spending more than we are making in interest, and we no longer benefit from ecological services.
The loss of natural environments in urban areas and urban fringes, especially in southern Canada, is affecting climate change. We are seeing a loss of natural environments and biodiversity, a loss of flood plains, a loss of farmland and poor management of rainwater. We have been looking at what is happening in our region, in Richelieu, as well as around Red River. We have been looking at everything that is happening in the other provinces. We are seeing erosion because of excessive logging. We are seeing the poor quality of our waterways because we are now building along them. We are channeling the waterways and draining asphalt and all sorts of chemicals from cars into our waterways. This has been largely documented. We are also seeing the erosion of shorelines and sewage discharges, meaning everything that flows into our water.
There are also heat islands. I am actually leading a research project, one of the most extensive research projects ever conducted in North America. It covers the Montreal area. The university consortium includes the University of Montreal, the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Institut de recherche de biologie végétale. In the metropolitan area, from 1985 to 2005, we lost between 6 to 7 hectares of farmland and natural environments per year. That means that we are losing 12 to 14 hectares of natural environments and farmland every year because of urban sprawl.
We can see urban sprawl, the poor quality of our landscapes, the one person per car pattern—which produces substantial CO2 emissions—air pollution, smog, the use of wood-burning stoves in some urban fringes and even in urban centres because of condominiums. There are a lot of households, and the energy demand is high. We are constantly using too much and requiring more energy.
So the CRE feels that one of the issues that deserves special attention is the management of lands so as to be mindful of the capacity of our ecosystems. On the north shore of Laval, where there are more than 500,000 people, we have had water supply problems since 2001. Following an order in council, we are required to blast the rocks between the Lac des Deux Montagnes and the Rivière-des-Mille-Îles to provide 400,000 or 500,000 residents with water.
If we had not done that, we would have jeopardized people's lives last summer. In terms of heat islands, there was a loss of biodiversity in 2010. Yes, it is important. We are talking about invasive plants, which is also important. However, climate change and heat islands are part of the reality. In 2010, in a seven-week period, 106 people died in Montreal during the heat wave. Those figures have been documented. If we do not think about that and about what a life is worth, we have some serious questions to ask ourselves, and we must reconsider our values. We are not just talking about economic values, we are talking about the life of the planet. I urge you to seriously look at everything that is being said and everything that is happening. The clock is ticking. It is one minute to midnight, not five minutes to midnight. We are running out of time.
It is now important to pay attention to the densification of lands to reduce the pressure on natural environments and farmland, as well as land use planning based on public and active transportation. We also have to identify and define the natural environments that need protection, conservation and development. In all the development plans in cities across Canada, when we determine the industrial areas, business areas and residential areas, we forget to specify which natural environments we are going to protect, preserve and, above all, make available to Canadians.
We are also talking about creating buffer zones. Depending on where you are in Canada, some regions have industrial areas, and people live close to some of those areas. Buffer zones should be created to limit the impact on health.
It is also a question of looking at legislation, guidelines and government regulations from a sustainable development point of view. The legislation is falling by the wayside and it is not being applied. We are afraid to apply the legislation and we are often wondering where we are heading and why the legislation is not enforced. The excuse is always that the environment harms the economy. But that is not true. The environment has to be a part of the economy. We have to pay attention to it more than ever.
Natural environments are important, be they wetlands that filter the water like kidneys or trees that catch the atmospheric dust and CO2. They work for us around the clock, 365 days a year without asking for anything in return. That has always been the case and we are entitled to that, the same way we are entitled to high quality water.
Before I give the floor to Ms. Bellemare, let me point out that municipal taxes must be reviewed. Right now, in Quebec, the current government is talking about doing so, but to help people and municipalities across Canada, we must review the municipal taxes of all the territories and provinces. This is urgent because, in 15 or 20 years, 80% of Canadians will be living in major urban centres. It is important to make sure that those people will not suffocate and die at a younger age.
Thank you. I will now give the floor to Ms. Bellemare.