Mr. Speaker, we are in the middle of a crisis, and therefore, we need national leadership to coordinate the response across the country and to allow the appropriate level of resources to be targeted at the specific regions of the country that need it the most. That being said, we are trying to strike a balance with this legislation with local communities to help identify and work with us toward finding solutions and that includes first responders. Much of what we are doing in this legislation is listening to the suggestions that those people have made on the ground to us in terms of dealing with this crisis.
In the House of Commons on May 15th, 2017. See this statement in context.