Environment Committee on Feb. 15th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

You've given notice.

We'll go now to Mr. Longfield.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses. I apologize for the disrespect being shown to you.

Dr. Madramootoo, it's an honour to have you here. Thank you for all the work you've done over decades, as you said, in water.

I want to focus on the science around water, as the chair of the Standing Committee on Science and Research.

At the University of Guelph, we have Professor Thevathasan, who has been doing riparian planting research to look at nutrients coming off the soil being absorbed by the growth of plants, which also sequesters carbon. We have Ed McBean, the tier 1 Canada research chair in water supply and security. Could you comment on those two examples?

I know you've been to the University of Guelph. I know you visit other universities in Canada. Could you comment on the importance of investing in research on water, and the role university research plays in water security?

[Chandra Madramootoo]

Thank you very much for that question, member. Your question is a very serious question. It certainly deserves a proper response because of its heightened interest today around the concerns of water.

There are several gaps in water research in the country. We have a handful of universities that do excellent research in water. They certainly stand up to international peer review. However, it is important that we identify the gaps in the research.

You've talked about vegetative buffer strips to reduce nutrient pollution and other areas of research, but when you think about the water sector and how broad it is, some of the areas that we know very little about are some of the emerging new pathogens and contaminants. Microplastics, for example, are of serious concern to the environment, and we need to pick up the pace on that and fund that kind of research on those new, emergent areas.

The use of remote sensing technologies in agricultural production needs to be expanded. We're a leader in RADARSAT, for example. How do we bring that to the forefront by bringing new researchers and new science to the program?

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Thank you.

On that, we're using RADARSAT as a way of looking at soil health and the new types of crops that you mentioned with better root structures to withstand droughts. It's not always about water and using the same water as before, but finding new ways of conserving water in agriculture.

Very briefly, could you agree or disagree with that statement? I have only 10 seconds left.

[Chandra Madramootoo]

I'm certainly good with your statement. There's much more that we can do in water conservation. There are new technologies to conserve water, like automated water delivery systems to fields, and they can be expanded on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Madame Pauzé.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Sandford, I'm going to come back to you because you have a wealth of experience. Earlier, I was telling you that Canada always projects a kind of image on the international scene, but when you live here, you see things differently.

Mr. Madramootoo mentioned it earlier. Canada's trademark is that it has a lot of fresh water reserves. Quebec has a million lakes. Food is safe. Technologies are modern. Opportunities abound.

We have a lot of water, but its quality sometimes leaves something to be desired, especially in indigenous communities. Think of the regions in northern Alberta, where water is polluted by the oil sands, the Ottawa River, which is threatened by nuclear waste, and the indigenous communities that are located just a few kilometres away from Edmonton and have no clean drinking water.

Don't you think that Canada has some serious work to do before holding itself up as an example?

[Robert Sandford]

Thank you very much for that very important question. It allows me to answer the previous question at the same time.

If we want water to be a pillar of our foreign policy, we have to get our own house in order first. We can do this simultaneously as we reach out to help others, because there are mechanisms, as Dr. Madramootoo has pointed out, and technologies that we have that are fully exportable.

However, there is a bolo effect that can happen here. We can help ourselves get our house in order because we have to, because as it has already been indicated, the global hydrologic cycle is accelerating and things are not going to be as they have been. We need to prepare ourselves for that in order to address our own problems, and in addressing our own problems, we may be able to help others.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you, Mr. Sandford.

[Robert Sandford]

Consequently, there are multiple benefits here. Thank you, sir.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Mr. Boulerice, you have the floor.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

This is timely, as I'm going to continue the discussion with Mr. Sandford.

Like my colleague Adam van Koeverden, I want to reassure him and tell him that he can count on me and my party to defend the important and crucial work of the United Nations and its agencies, even if they are sometimes maligned by some media or commentators these days.

Mr. Sandford, all the current data indicates that the weather conditions next summer and fall will be quite terrible.

We were talking earlier about fires, floods and droughts. That will have repercussions not only for Canada, but also for all of the Americas.

As we saw last year, Canada must be ready to defend its lack of action when those things happen because it has not done enough to fight climate change. That is arguably a threat to national security.

What does the government need to do immediately to prepare for that?

[Robert Sandford]

The most important thing that can be said in answer to that is that we do face an emergency.

Almost all the indicators that we see over much of the country, from the British Columbian coast to Quebec, indicate not just drought but extremely dry conditions and vulnerability to wildfire. This is going to affect not just the sectors we normally think of. It's going to affect a wide range of economic sectors in very deleterious ways. There's no way that we can see at this moment that this is going to be alleviated by last-minute rainfalls or snowfalls.

Emergency preparedness as a nation is vital if we are to understand how we can save money and save lives this coming summer. It's a no-regret strategy because we know that as climate continues to warm, we're going to have to be prepared in those ways and to change the way we react to these emergencies.

Rather than reacting, we have to be able to prepare for them and understand what we have to change in order to become more—

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you, Mr. Sandford.

Mr. Boulerice's time is up.

Mr. Kram, you have the floor.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today. I'd like to start with Dr. Madramootoo and follow up on his comments.

You said in your opening statement that agriculture uses about 70% of global water withdrawals.

Is it a similar figure for Canada, or does Canada use more or less? Can you shed some light on that?

[Chandra Madramootoo]

Thank you very much for your question.

It all depends on where you are in Canada. If you take the South Saskatchewan River basin, it is as high as 70% and there is water stress in that basin. The same happens for some of the basins in southern Alberta, such as the Oldman River, as well.

Generally we have an abundance of water, so there's quite a bit of spatial variability. Obviously, out in eastern Canada we have an abundance of water, but we do have water-stressed basins in western Canada.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Can you speak to the role that irrigation projects can play in water security and food security?

[Chandra Madramootoo]

Absolutely. Irrigation is essential, especially in these water-stressed areas, to be able to provide the additional water to meet crop water demands, to maintain stability of yields and to ensure that farmers can get the same yields, whether it be in the dry seasons, the wet years or dry years. It allows those farmers to keep enhancing their availability of high yields.

Today, we produce about 30% more crop yields with much less irrigation water than we did 25 years ago due to the modern irrigation technologies developed right here in Canada.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

This committee has also heard how irrigation, in addition to increasing crop yields, can increase carbon sequestration in the soil in farmland.

Can you elaborate on some of the benefits of carbon sequestration in the soil and how we can do more of that with our policies?

[Chandra Madramootoo]

Thank you.

Irrigation alone would not be able to sequester enough carbon in the soil. We have to do other things like reduce tillage and do crop rotations. We have to do more leguminous cropping in our soil practices and cropping practices to store more carbon in the soil.

As we store more carbon in the soil, we reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted to the atmosphere, thereby helping to reduce the increase in global temperatures as well.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

To be clear, irrigation alone could not meet our CO2 targets, but it would help. Is that safe to say?

[Chandra Madramootoo]

It would help, but that alone would not be able to meet the targets.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Could you give us an idea of how much it would help? Would it get us halfway there or a quarter of the way?

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Please give a quick number.

[Chandra Madramootoo]

It's probably about 10% to 15%.