I think we have a couple of crises. The elephant in the room that we're not talking about is the fact that we're about to lose 35% of the species on this planet between now and 2050. I would love to hear what the Government of Canada is going to do about that.
Of the 20 most common bird species in North America, for example, we've lost 50% of the population within the last few years, which is way ahead of any of the estimates.
We're all nodding here and some of you are smiling, but the biggest problem we're going to have is the loss of diversity and resilience. It's going to kill agriculture. It's not about rising waters; it's about the loss of species.
As for our part of our challenge, how will that affect cities? It's going to reorient us to food supply and to those kinds of changes. Where is our food going to come from? I'm a western Canadian and have spent most of my life on the prairies, and I looked at what some of the water supplies mean to cities like Regina and Calgary, and where the water is coming from to grow that wheat. And now we're competing for food, because cities are driving up energy costs.
I think those folks at the other end of the table are brilliant, because they're shifting away from using food as a supply, to municipal waste, and farm waste, and I congratulate you. Thank God for what you're doing. And the energy payback you've had is extraordinary, by any standard. So that's the big challenge.
The other big problem we're going to have in our Canadian cities is that the mean temperature of continents like Africa isn't going up by two degrees; it's going up by five to ten degrees. One-third of the world's population by 2015 will lose its water supply. Canada is going to be heavily pressured to accept environmental refugees, and we have no population policy in Canada.
I will tell you, as mayor of the city of Winnipeg, which struggled to retain population, we had a great relationship with the federal and provincial government—with the government from Mr. Dewar's party, and, at the time, with the Chrétien and Martin governments—and I think it continues to this day with Mr. Harper's government. How we are going to deal with the environmental implications of how we settle people, and how we're going to deal with those tensions, is a subject for major national policy.
Parliamentarians, I have to tell you, I have huge thanks for you. I know you have a tough job....
Sorry. Yes, Madam. I apologize.