Mr. Speaker, I too want to thank the Prime Minister for his statement here this morning, and I thank the Leader of the Opposition for those very moving words.
One of the important things that has been said is that there will be matching funds for donations to the Red Cross. It is a particularly easy site to get to and to navigate, and it is specific to the Fort McMurray tragedy that is still ongoing. It is particularly user-friendly.
For Canadians to know that, for every dollar they give, there is going to be a dollar put in by the government, I think should encourage everyone to give generously to the Red Cross.
There are times in this House when we have to put everything else aside and pull together to help our fellow Canadians, and this is one of those times. We are all heartbroken by the suffering we have seen in Fort McMurray, and our thoughts and our prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.
Our thanks go out, of course, to the firefighters, pilots, volunteers, and emergency service workers, but I dare say that our admiration goes out to the ordinary folks we have seen affected by these tragic events. There is something incredibly reassuring to see how Canadians respond.
There are 80,000 people on the move, leaving that inferno, waiting on the side of the road for gasoline to eventually get to them, patiently. There are stories of neighbours helping neighbours, good folks helping good folks.
I do not know if there are many societies on earth where that type of calamity would be met with that type of stoic, strong, poised response. Everyone there deserves our congratulations.
There are probably few places on earth where, when faced with such a natural disaster, instead of panicking, people would stand shoulder to shoulder, ready to help their neighbour.
We saw the same thing in eastern Canada about 20 years ago during the ice storm. Perhaps it is a profoundly Canadian trait to be there for others and overcome obstacles. Perhaps it is part of our history. It is truly admirable. I applaud the people of Alberta for the fortitude they have shown the past few days.
As the Leader of the Opposition indicated, it is also important to bear in mind that certain things need to be done as we go forward. We need to immediately look at what is no longer there in terms of programs. Things like the joint emergency preparedness program, which no longer exists, and the disaster financial assistance arrangements come to mind. The government needs to have a closer look at these things in the future, to ensure that if something like this ever happens again, although we hope it does not, we can be there for those affected.
Premier Notley and her government are, of course, working tirelessly to ensure first responders and the affected communities have everything they need. I do urge the Prime Minister, as I did yesterday, to work with Alberta, and all the provinces, to bring back funding cut in 2012 for the joint emergency preparedness program. I think we can all agree that, tragically, this is the type of event that we are going to see increasing in our country.
My friend and colleague the member of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona spoke to me last night about two other subjects that we have to keep in mind, one of which is the immediate availability of employment insurance. People who have already lost everything should not be made to wait, and they should not be the subject of aleatory discretion in the public administration. We have to open up, make sure we are generous, and make sure it gets done rapidly. We have to make sure people have access immediately to EI.
In remembering the importance of employment insurance and the importance of putting money into housing, we are just going to be doing what we have been seeing from everybody there, showing generosity of spirit and kindness. Those are the two words that my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona stressed last night.
The Leader of the Opposition just reminded us that Brian Jean, who was one of our colleagues here in the House of Commons, lost his home. When I visited the flooded area of High River in 2013, I was struck again by how people can just rise above the normal things. The person who came out to greet me was Danielle Smith. Her own house was flooded, and she took it upon herself to make sure that I visited that area. We will not find any accounts of Danielle Smith doing that. It was done spontaneously, from the heart, and there was not a drop of partisanship in something like that. It was just, “This is what we have been through. Do everything you can to help”.
That is what we have to do—everything we can to help the people of Fort McMurray.
At the very moment we convened here this morning, some Bombardier Canadair jets left Quebec City to go and provide assistance in Alberta. That is a great example of what needs to be done. Everyone must be there for the people of Alberta.
We are all in this together. Everybody in Canada understands and feels for the people of Fort McMurray today. The House should rise as one and provide all the help and support they need.