Mr. Speaker, this week in Port Alberni, volunteers will be training how to best respond to a disaster caused by an earthquake or tsunami. These exercises, put on by the province and local governments along with the Red Cross and Salvation Army, will teach life-saving skills and emergency preparedness procedures. On Vancouver Island, we know that it's not a matter of, "if” a big one will hit but “when” a big one will it hit. That is why we need federal leadership on emergency preparedness across jurisdictions.
Sadly, all we've seen from the federal government is the cancelling of the joint emergency preparedness program; continued downloading onto provincial and local authorities; and, the recent closure of the Coast Guard MCTS Centre in Comox, which was the only communications centre not in a tsunami subduction zone.
It is time Canadians, especially those in coastal communities, had the confidence that their federal government is there for them, ready for these kinds of emergencies, not if they strike, but when they strike.