Environment Committee on May 7th, 2026

[Cathy Furness]

The planning is going up, sir.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

That gets to the point.

Do you agree with the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association that with limited access to central drugs—antimicrobials and antiparasitics, among others—that have already been approved and trusted in international jurisdictions, veterinarians often lack the tools necessary especially for preventative care, in addition to acute care?

[Cathy Furness]

For today, the scope of our discussion is the OAG audit and highly pathogenic avian influenza. I'd be pleased to address questions pertaining to those areas.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Well, it goes to that area—disaster preparedness and preparing for outbreaks.

H1N1 is an example today. If veterinarians across the country don't have the tools they need available to them so they can address or prevent an outbreak—tools available in other jurisdictions—we have a problem. We're not preparing to the best of our ability.

I wonder if you could comment on this from that perspective.

[Cathy Furness]

Thank you very much for the question.

Today, the scope is the OAG's findings on highly pathogenic avian influenza. I'd be pleased to address questions pertaining to that issue.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Are there any products in other jurisdictions, internationally, that would be of use in addressing H1N1 outbreaks here and that are available in Canada?

[Cathy Furness]

At this point in time, some vaccines for H5N1 have been licensed in other jurisdictions. We also have three vaccines licensed for emergency use here in Canada, for H5N1.

However, internationally, a vaccination for high path AI is being incorporated into response plans. Canada is a country that is looking at trialling a high path vaccination as a tool.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Dr. Furness.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Patrick Bonin]

Mr. Grant, the floor is yours.

[Wade Grant, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

I'll be sharing my time once again with Mr. St-Pierre.

My first question is on the avian influenza report, and it is for Ms. Robinson.

Your department accepted recommendations that have implementation timelines in October, November and December 2026.

Regarding PHAC's vaccine procurement and distribution tracking processes, can you speak to what has already changed, since the audit period closed, to meet those recommendations?

[Kerry Robinson]

Thank you for the question.

For the first recommendation, which was around supporting further procurement decisions, we are finalizing the development of a framework in the interpandemic period to help us systematically support decision-making on any potential future procurement of H5 vaccines for humans.

That framework will include considerations such as the availability of vaccinations from manufacturers and production timelines; ongoing monitoring of other potential suppliers and international partners in terms of their procurement plans and supply readiness; consultation with our expert panel on avian influenza regarding needs and evidence, including an epidemiological review of risk conditions and the stage of our preparedness as a whole; and consultations, obviously, with provinces and territories on their potential needs or objectives from a public health protection perspective. That's the first response.

Regarding the second piece around recommendations related to improving the management of vaccine distribution and monitoring, there are a couple of things.

First, we have already transitioned away from using Vaccine Connect, the previous system for vaccine supply monitoring, which was federally procured. We integrated that functionality into our agency's warehouse management IT system. This enables us to track, in near to real time, integrated information on pandemic vaccines from manufacturers in terms of full visibility of supply distribution and wastage in the context of suppliers. We are continuing to work on improving vaccine distribution and monitoring, and onboarding pandemic vaccine manufacturers and vendors into this system so it will be ready if we need to use it. That's if we have additional supply.

The second most important piece here is the recommendation related to information sharing with provinces and territories. We're in the process of finalizing a public health information-sharing agreement with provinces and territories that scopes very much beyond vaccines. However, one of those areas is vaccines. That's obviously key to supporting information sharing.

Thank you.

[Wade Grant, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. St-Pierre.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

Ms. El Bied, during the questioning from my Conservative colleague Mr. Leslie, you spoke very enthusiastically about a tool that would be useful to all Canadians. Could you elaborate on why you're excited about this new tool?

[Kenza El Bied]

Thank you very much for your question.

The purpose of the flood risk finder is to make Canadians aware of the flood risks that they face. It will provide Canadians in participating provinces and territories with accurate information on their location, flood hazards and flood risks in the form of a low-to-extreme flood score, along with interactive maps to visualize data. In general, the tool will also direct users toward advice on ways to reduce the impacts of flooding on their homes and communities. It will enable Canadians to better understand flood risks, and it will help make it easier for homeowners and tenants to implement flood risk reduction measures.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

This tool sounds very useful for all Canadians, and I believe all members of Parliament should be really happy to know about it. Thank you for sharing that information with us.

I have one minute left, and I would like to ask Mr. DeMarco or Ms. Fortier some questions about the work being done together with the governments, particularly the Government of Quebec, as well as with academic institutions.

Does Quebec have any particular collaboration with the Ouranos group or other civil society groups in Quebec? If so, can you share your opinion on that collaboration?

[Susie Fortier]

The group you mentioned is a very well-known group in Quebec. When we do audits, we work with them to access their expertise, and they help us with our work. We also turn to them when we review the technical standards that have been applied. However, we haven't audited or examined the collaboration between the groups and organizations. That's part of the group's mandate, so it would be up to the group to answer.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Patrick Bonin]

Commissioner, you have issued many reports over the past year and a half, and we haven't had a chance to go through them. I'm going to take this opportunity to come back to your report on protected areas and the fact that Canada had protected barely 15% of marine and terrestrial areas, while the objective was to protect 25% by 2025, I believe, and 30% by 2030.

Obviously, you said that we weren't on the right track and that things had to change.

Have you had a chance to look at the 2030 nature strategy that the government recently announced? Do you think it will make it possible to meet the 2030 targets? Does it address the concerns raised in your report?

[Jerry V. DeMarco]

Thank you for your question.

It would be our pleasure to come back to discuss the other reports. There are many of them in our library from last year. We have four reports on protected areas, one for the Government of Northwest Territories and three for the federal government.

One of the concerns raised in our report was that we had reason to believe that the 2025 target would not be met. We knew that, but we also had reason to believe that it would be possible to meet the 30% target by 2030 if the funding for these initiatives didn't end in March of this year. I saw that it was renewed on March 31, which will help us meet the 2030 targets. Without that funding, it would be almost impossible to do so.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Patrick Bonin]

[Inaudible—Editor] and that didn't put them on track to meet their target. How does the presence of new money, which likely isn't enough, reassure you? The previous strategy also provided for money, yet governments are missing the target.

Please answer quickly.

[Jerry V. DeMarco]

Renewing funds doesn't guarantee that the target will be met. We want to see results in the audits, not just money. I can tell you that the absence of a program and funding would make it almost impossible to meet the targets. However, the presence of those funds isn't a guarantee. This work has to be done in collaboration with the provinces, territories and indigenous communities for the 30% target to be met by 2030.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Patrick Bonin]

Thank you.

Mr. Gill, you have the floor.

[Amanpreet S. Gill, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

My question is for Mr. Rinaldo Jeanty.

The Auditor General found that Natural Resources Canada is not on track to publish a flood map by 2028.

Does the department still believe that the 2028 target is achievable, and if so, on what basis?

[Rinaldo Jeanty]

Absolutely. Natural Resources Canada believes that we are on target to achieve the goals and objectives of the program by 2028.

Since the audit has been completed, I will also tell you that we have over 450 maps that have been completed and published at this particular juncture. We are also on track to publish well above the target of a thousand-plus maps at this point. I will also reiterate that with every single province and territory that we've worked with, we have prioritized and ensured that every dollar spent has gone toward the priority areas from those provinces, specifically high-risk areas.

In addition to that, I've heard about value for money. I would say that everything we've received from the provinces and territories to date gives us an indication that there is value for money for the work that's currently being done. This is on the basis that we've received a number of letters from provinces at this point, telling us that they want these programs to be renewed.

When we look specifically at the work that's been done in B.C., we see that there are 11-plus projects, and we expect to have 28-plus maps completed. By the end of the program, we certainly will have a number of maps completed for B.C.

[Amanpreet S. Gill, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Yes, but the Auditor General also found that Natural Resources Canada did not track whether the flood maps it funded covered any high-risk areas identified in the 2022 prioritization exercise and that only 49% of projects overlapped with those areas.

Why was the department unable to ensure that funding aligned with its own flood risk prioritization?