I want to thank all the witnesses for joining us.
We need to understand what happened so that it doesn't happen again in other places, such as in our area. The events that took place affect everyone.
Minister, public safety is your specialty. Public safety is now confronted with multiple risks tied to the impact of global warming. I think that you touched on this topic in your remarks. A devastating event took place in a populated area that may face another major event in the future.
The document provided by the Library of Parliament analysts, whom I want to thank, refers to the testimony given to this committee last February by John Pomeroy, a distinguished professor and scientist. He said that this year's drought was alarming. He also said that the snowpack was 70% below average and that last year saw record glacier melt. He added that groundwater levels had never been so low, that water reservoirs in the Rockies were five metres lower than they should have been and that the level of some reservoirs was so low that municipalities couldn't draw water from them through their pipes and had to truck in water instead.
I think that this really illustrates the fact that climate change is upon us. We always hear that it's a few years away, but it isn't. It's here.
We should also keep in mind the mountain pine beetle.
How could the department provide room to manoeuvre and take concrete action in the years ahead?