Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today.
Ms. Eyquem, I have some questions for you. The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, the organization you're with, was quoted in a Global News article on September 29, 2022, on some of the issues around climate change and adaptation. I believe it was one of your colleagues, Blair Feltmate, if I'm making the connection correctly. Part of what was expressed in this article—and it may not be in front of you, so I'm not expecting you to know it verbatim—was essentially about the devastation that was caused by hurricane Fiona. At the time of this article, it talked about “at least three deaths” being attributed to that storm. It also talked about a couple of points. One was that avoiding climate change and the severe storms would be ideal, but that the adaptation and mitigation for dealing with these storms are obviously going to be crucial—which is what we're all talking about right now.
I find it particularly frustrating, because I think that's exactly correct and we need the debate to be happening. Just yesterday in the House, in response to discussing climate change and our mitigation approaches, a member of the Conservative Party actually referred to a reference about hurricane Fiona as well as the fires going on as a “stupid guilt trip”. I find that really frustrating when we are talking about the very real impacts of climate change.
You spoke in your opening remarks about not only the very real cost, but the health and, in some of these cases, the death that is created as a result. I want to speak in that vein about the very real life impacts, and how referring to it as a “stupid guilt trip” in talking about how to mitigate climate change...and then also how to mitigate the infrastructure we need. Can you talk a little bit more about the real costs on the ground when these severe weather events happen?