Madam Speaker, on February 10 of this year, I asked the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities to tell me what he thought about the request by a group of flood victims from the Richelieu valley for authorization to launch a class action suit and what he intended to do about it.
I asked this question following a press conference held in Montreal on February 9 by the Arsenault & Lemieux law firm. Oddly enough, the parliamentary secretary told me that she sympathized with the flood victims in Manitoba, her home province. First, I would like to say that I too sympathize with the flood victims in Manitoba. The Minister of Industry also answered my question. He said: “there are disaster mitigation programs that the provinces and federal government are constantly working on”.
However, my question was not about Manitoba, public safety or even industry. My question was for the minister responsible for infrastructure, who did not provide me with an answer. That is why I am asking the question again this evening.
I would first like to talk about the situation of Mr. and Mrs. Dupuis, the couple who are behind this class action suit.
Before April 23, 2011, Mr. Dupuis' property had never flooded. The applicant's certificate of location shows that the property is not considered to be in a flood zone. Mr. and Mrs. Dupuis were forced to leave their home on April 23, 2011, as a result of springtime flooding, which caused 14 inches of water to accumulate in their home, which is quite a bit. They were unable to return to their home until December 28, 2011, eight months later. To date, they have spent $135,000 on repairs and they have received only $30,000 from the Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec. It is this specific case that initiated the request.
What are the plaintiffs' allegations?
Let me provide a little background. Since 1963, there have been 25 floods over 100 feet recorded at the reference point in Rouses Point, New York.
On April 1, 1937—this goes back quite a while—the Government of Canada applied for the right to build a work and set aside $500,000. On June 10, 1937, the joint international commission approved the construction of the Fryers Island dam and stated that the construction would also involve dredging.
On January 5, 1976, the Secretary of State for External Affairs of Canada stipulated that the Government of Quebec would build the dam and maintain it, including dredging, pursuant to an agreement reached with the Government of Canada. That is the history and the request.
What are the claimants asking for?
They are mainly calling on the government to finally keep a promise made in 1937 to complete this infrastructure, and to carry out the dredging to compensate for the reduced water flow that has resulted from various interventions on the river. Because of this reduced water flow, the entire Richelieu valley is being flooded every time water levels rise.