Evidence of meeting #38 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was information.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Will Greaves Liberal Victoria, BC
Thank you very much for your indulgence, Mr. Chair.
The question was simply whether it is considered a best practice to secure vaccine supplies early, even if the eventual severity of an outbreak is not yet known.
Director General, Centre for Foodborne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada
This is a very important and complex question.
We do have a pandemic influenza vaccine strategy in Canada that involves readiness contracts so that we can secure both through a domestic supplier, which would be a primary supplier, as well as an offshore supplier in the case of a pandemic influenza.
In this case, for vaccines, we felt that it was important to have some modest supply, given the very high uncertainty of a spillover from the U.S. to Canada, as well as the need to protect human health.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Patrick Bonin
It's my turn to speak.
Commissioner, my questions are for you. In your report, you mentioned that the government has announced significant investments in buildings and housing, among other things.
You suggested that there's a problem because mapping is not available, so apartments, buildings and infrastructure could be built in flood-prone areas that have not been mapped. Can you comment on that?
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General
Yes, of course.
In paragraph 7 of our flood hazard mapping report, we talk about the $25 billion for housing and the $115 billion for infrastructure. We say that these financial commitments highlight the need for evidence-based climate change information to effectively adapt and guide land-use planning and infrastructure development. All decisions must be informed and based on the best science and information we can get to avoid destroying investments in the future.
I think everyone agrees with that concept in general, but, as we've said before, we need to accelerate these efforts to save money and save lives in the future.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Patrick Bonin
Do you think the government is actually lagging behind?
The government is making announcements. It says it has a lot of money, but the mapping hasn't been done, has it?
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General
Regarding the themes addressed in the two reports today—namely, mapping and federal assets—the reports state that the government has been too slow so far and that it has to speed up its efforts. I still agree with that.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Patrick Bonin
These new reports are on top of your report from last year on the national adaptation strategy, in which you did discuss some problems. You said that the strategy was incomplete and poorly structured and that elements hadn't been prioritized in relation to climate risks.
After many months and these two new reports, do you still maintain that there are problems with the national adaptation strategy and that the government has to quickly fix the situation?
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General
Yes.
In one part of our report from last year, we state that Canada was very slow to simply publish an adaptation strategy, in comparison with G7 countries. We're now seeing the effects of that. The programs we're analyzing, which are the subject of our performance audits, aren't very advanced. However, that isn't surprising, since Canada was very slow to produce its first strategy; the other G7 countries already had a second or third strategy when Canada published its first strategy.
When it comes to the programs, the strategy that it has implemented, there's certainly work to be done to catch up.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Patrick Bonin
Okay.
I believe this strategy ends in 2027. Do you recommend that the government update this strategy quickly to address the gaps—I'm putting it nicely—since Canada was one of the last, if not the last, of the G7 countries to produce this kind of strategy?
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General
I can start answering your question. Ms. Grondin can give more details afterward.
Only one of the three elements of the national strategy is currently in place. The government has work to do, even if only to finish the other two elements.
Ms. Grondin can speak to that and provide further details.
Principal, Office of the Auditor General
In fact, I would add to what the commissioner said.
Yes, there are three essential elements.
There's the Government of Canada's adaptation action plan, the climate-focused indigenous leadership fund and the bilateral action plans between the federal government and the provinces. Two of those three elements are missing. It's important to implement both of those elements and to address the major gaps in the Government of Canada's adaptation action plan.
This report includes several recommendations. If the measures are in place to respond to the recommendations, I think that will already be a major step forward.
We have people from the Department of the Environment here with us today. They plan to develop a next strategy. I think it will be important to address the gaps that were mentioned in our report in preparation for the next iteration.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Patrick Bonin
I'd like to talk about defence briefly.
Your report states that the number of events for which the armed forces were asked to intervene has nearly doubled every five years since 2010, and that this number will continue to rise.
Of the extra $81 billion that the government has earmarked for the armed forces, do you anticipate more resources for interventions by the army? Do you think there won't be more interventions in the future and that you won't need to add money?
Principal, Office of the Auditor General
I think that's a better question for national defence.
There was basically a major opportunity. It's important to understand that not only does the federal government manage the largest asset portfolio in Canada, but it's also the largest buyer in Canada. That means the investments that are going to be made are a great opportunity to look at resilience.
In terms of how those amounts will be used, I think it would be up to national defence to talk about that.
Bloc
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
Thank you, Chair. I appreciate it.
Again, I thank the witnesses.
I'm going to change tack here a little bit and go to the CFIA and Dr. Furness.
The community of Taber, in my riding of Bow River, had a case of avian flu at a poultry farm last fall. The case has since been resolved, which is fantastic. I wonder how much of a threat you perceive avian flu to be, moving forward, for producers in southern Alberta and across the country.
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Thank you very much for the question.
The CFIA has been responding to cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry since late 2021. Right now, the transmission of high path AI to domestic poultry premises is often through wild bird or migratory bird introductions.
At this point in time, we know that high path AI is continuing to circulate in wild bird populations, and therefore that risk remains for our domestic poultry population.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
May I interject, Dr. Furness?
We're familiar with the mechanisms. We want to know the risk. Going forward, is the risk normal, below or elevated, in your assessment?
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
There was always an ongoing risk. Biosecurity will be our key tool to prevent the introduction of disease to our domestic poultry populations.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
Dr. Furness, again, is your assessment, looking forward, that the risk is elevated, normal or below normal?
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
The risk is ongoing.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
I understand that, but do you expect the trend to go up or down?
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
We expect the trend to continue over the course of the migration seasons. It's particularly elevated in the spring migration, which we are in now, as well as in the fall migration.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
Okay. We didn't get anywhere with that.
From the number of cases of avian flu in the past five or six years, are you at all concerned that the CFIA doesn't have the capacity to tackle future outbreaks? How do you plan for what capacity to have if you don't understand...? Do you use the eighty-twenty rule or some guideline on how much effort to put into preparation based on what the risk level is, with the risk level changing over time based on surveillance?
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
The CFIA embarks on a continuous cycle of planning, preparedness and response. As we are continuing to go through this outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, we are consistently and constantly updating and revising our plans, and ensuring that we have the appropriate response capacity. This involves collaborating with our provincial partners, as well as our industry partners.
Conservative
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
Dr. Furness, again specifically, I'm getting to the details and not so much to the mechanism. Is the planning going up, or is the planning going down?