Mr. Speaker, on February 22 I asked the minister of fisheries about a big issue in my riding having to do with flooding. I asked the following question:
The district of Kent, Seabird Island and all the communities along the Fraser river are threatened by potential flooding every year, yet the minister of fisheries refuses to allow enough gravel to be removed from the Fraser to lessen the chance of potential flooding.
We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Will the minister commit today to allow for immediate gravel removal from the Fraser River, or will he allow his inaction to threaten thousands of people in my riding and surrounding communities?
The minister responded:
I can assure them that I will take immediate action to make sure this is resolved as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, before seeing my responsibilities in the act and the details of this matter, I cannot prejudge which way I will decide, but I can assure them that I will be expeditious.
Surprise, surprise. Just a few weeks later there was a headline in the Agassiz-Harrison Observer in my community which read “DFO stalls gravel removal plan”. The article states:
The district had been prepared to extract 30,000 cubic metres of gravel from the river at Harrison Mills and Hamilton Bar as part of its flood prevention program. According to the DFO, further assessment is required in accordance with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to determine the impact any gravel removal would have on the surrounding habitat.
This issue has been studied to death over and over again in this area. The provincial government is on side, the local communities are on side. The only group that is not on side is the federal government and the minister of fisheries. Because of his inaction he is putting at risk the communities along the Fraser River. This is a very important issue. It is just unbelievable.
The mayor of Agassiz had the following to say:
Economically, we need gravel for construction, for cement making, for fill, for any number of things in the community.
There is already a renewable source there that keeps washing down every year. This gravel could be used in the community and everybody is on board with it. It is just unbelievable the minister would continue to not allow this to go forward. The local MLA, who is a Liberal, is on board. He states clearly that he wants to see this happen.
I have been representing this issue for a number of years and still there is no action. We have a debris trap also located close to Agassiz which traps logs that are coming down the river, smashing into the sides of dikes and causing damage. The government was going to remove funding for that as well.
I talked to the people at the Seabird Island reserve in my riding. They are on board. They want to see the gravel removed from the river too because it is causing damage to the community. Ten acres wash down the river every year, which is just unbelievable, yet we see inaction.
If the argument is that it is all about fish habitat, decreasing the flow by decreasing the amount of gravel in the river would actually enhance fish habitat.
I know my friend is filling in on this issue. I hope he has more than just a response provided to him by the minister of fisheries and that he will endeavour to talk to the minister to allow the gravel to be extracted from the Fraser River to lessen the potential of flooding in my riding and surrounding communities.