Thank you very much.
Water will define the century and the decades ahead. By that, I mean water and how we manage and govern it will decide whether we are a wealthy and prosperous nation or slump into mediocrity and missed opportunity. As we all know—and you know the facts better than I, after many months of submissions and testimonies—the simple fact is that the climate crisis is a water crisis.
I'm Oliver Brandes, as introduced. I am here on behalf of the POLIS project at the University of Victoria Centre for Global Studies, and also the Forum for Leadership on Water. I bring you greetings from Canada's far west and Vancouver Island, in the territory of the Lekwungen speaking peoples.
I am not a technology person; I am a carry-over from a previous event. However, fortunately, all the issues of the day, whether it's technology, food security, housing, prosperity, health, economic development, community, quality of life, salmon and other species—the list goes on—connect to water. The notion of water and watershed security is absolutely fundamental. In fact, watersheds are part of our health infrastructure, and fundamentally about material security and a sense of agency and future for communities and businesses.
Water affects issues, such that 90% of natural disasters are water-related. By 2025, climate impacts and disasters will slow down Canada's economic growth by $25 billion annually, the equivalent of 50% of the projected GDP growth.
I spent much of my day today already talking to media, because in B.C., we like to talk about the four horsemen of the water apocalypse—drought, fire, flood, water contamination. Historic mega droughts, record wildfires and atmospheric rivers have hit B.C. hard in the last couple of years. This is real, and it affects people in a real way; and the federal government have largely been absent. The many promises to build back better remain unrealized. This brings me to you here today.
What we need is for the federal government simply to do its job. Now, it's important to realize that that job has changed over the years. Government can't make it rain, but it sure as heck can help communities prepare for the trouble ahead and make sure everyone is doing their part.
It's easy to say that we don't need government and just get government out of the way. In the water context, this is wrong, wrong, wrong. It requires communities, mayors, chiefs, farmers, ranchers, businesses and community leaders to work together, to co-operate, to collaborate. Water is fundamentally a shared resource.
The federal government has a critical role in this. Managing water well is about planning, knowing what to expect and being prepared for the unexpected, but also knowing how we will share and how we will work together to be good neighbours.
When the water does not come or when it all comes at once, or when the watershed is on fire, we need to do this work well in advance. The federal government has been absent too long, and there are numerous opportunities or elements to help us deal with this.
The Canada water agency and the Canada Water Act renewal are two such opportunities. The Canada water agency is the first. It is how the federal government can and should show up, and how they can show up effectively. It provides a mechanism of governance that allows for efficiency, national and global leadership and certainly co-operative federalism across Canada. It will ensure that water investment is done pragmatically, efficiently and urgently with maximum local impact. It is how they show up to be effective, and that helps people in place.
The other piece of the puzzle will be, number one, a renewed Canada Water Act. This is an opportunity. There are five elements to building a 21st-century water act. Enable, enhance and require the ability to predict and respond to water problems. This will help protect people, communities and infrastructure from a changing hydrology.
Number two is advanced reconciliation. This is fundamental. It is consistent with the TRC and UNDRIP . It is fundamental for impact and process—for example, employing a co-drafting process.
Number three is integrated river basin planning and management that protects, restores and maintains the ecological integrity of the nation's waters.
Number four is a 21st century transboundary water management institution, and number five is designating a national water fund.
B.C. offers us a good model in its watershed security fund. It manages water for the well-being and prosperity of current and future generations.