House of Commons Hansard #403 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was records.

Topics

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

6:10 p.m.

NDP

Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC

Mr. Speaker, in May 2018, the city of Grand Forks and the surrounding Boundary district of southern British Columbia suffered the worst flooding in 70 years. A record snow pack, sudden melting and heavy rain on snow events sent the levels of the Kettle River and the Granby River up over their banks and into people's houses, businesses and over farms.

I drove through the area the next day. The highway was temporarily closed and much of the historic downtown of Grand Forks was under water, and whole neighbourhoods were inundated.

About 3,000 people were forced to flee their homes, about 1,500 buildings were evacuated throughout the regional district and more than 500 were damaged. Many remain empty today.

The flooding caused over $38 million in damages to residential neighbourhoods, farms, commercial areas and industrial operations throughout the Kettle Valley. Some farms lost huge areas of land when the river changed its course and swept through fields, turning valuable agricultural lands into watercourses or unusable islands.

Local residents stepped up during the flood, sandbagging in the hot sun and raising dikes to fend off a threatened second flooding event as snow melt proceeded in the surrounding mountains. Charitable organizations stepped, feeding the volunteers, finding shelter for the homeless and helping affected residents clean out their ruined homes. So many were impacted, and many have lost their homes. It has been a very difficult time for the people of Grand Forks and the surrounding area.

An office for Boundary flood recovery was set up, and those folks have been working day in and day out to deal with the emergency and plan for the future. What does that future look like? With climate change, more extreme weather events are expected over the coming years, such as more precipitation in winter, earlier springs and rain on snow events. Luckily, the forecast for this spring is more hopeful as snow packs are, for the time being, below normal.

However, concerns for the future are driving the decisions being made by the citizens of Grand Forks and by the Boundary flood recovery team. These are tough decisions, decisions like which neighbourhoods are likely to be flooded again, which properties ought to be bought out to open up areas that can be flooded during future events so the river can take a more natural course and which properties should be bought out to allow the construction of proper dikes that can protect other neighbourhoods.

Nobody likes to see their home singled out on a map as a property that might be sacrificed to create a safer future for the community as a whole. The flood recovery team, the City of Grand Forks, the Regional District of Kootenay-Boundary, the Province of B.C. and other agencies have created a plan for the future that will build a more resilient community and region. It will take time. The plan covers multiple years. It will also be expensive, more than $60 million.

Like all major infrastructure projects, funding will come from several sources. The City of Grand Forks will provide what it can, and has spent a lot of money already. The Province of B.C. has stepped up to the plate. However, local residents and agencies are relying on the federal government for a major part of the funding, primarily through an application to the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. Without this funding, the future will be very difficult and uncertain for Grand Forks and the surrounding region.

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

6:15 p.m.

Kanata—Carleton Ontario

Liberal

Karen McCrimmon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, in response to the hon. member's question, let me first offer my sympathy to those impacted by this flooding in British Columbia last May and particularly in Grand Forks, the community that was hardest hit. As my own community of Constance Bay was devastated by flooding two years ago, I do understand the kind of trauma that the people are going through.

I can confirm that the Governor in Council has issued an order in council authorizing the provision of federal financial assistance under the disaster financial assistance arrangements to British Columbia for the 2018 spring flood event. Public Safety Canada is working closely with provincial officials to help Grand Forks and the other communities recover from the recent flooding as quickly as possible.

When natural disaster strikes, such as was the case during the spring flood that occurred in 30 communities across British Columbia, the provinces and territories are responsible for the design and delivery of financial assistance. In the event of a large-scale natural disaster such as this, the Government of Canada provides financial assistance to provincial and territorial governments through the DFAA, administered by Public Safety Canada.

When response and recovery costs exceed what individual provinces or territories could reasonably be expected to bear on their own, the DFAA provides the Government of Canada with a fair and equitable means by which it can assist provincial and territorial governments. All decisions regarding financial assistance to individuals, to small businesses and to local governments affected by natural disaster are taken by the province. It is important to note that the DFAA does not provide financial assistance to those directly affected by the disaster, but rather cost shares eligible provincial costs.

A province or territory may request Government of Canada's disaster financial assistance when eligible expenditures exceed an established threshold based on the provincial population. Eligible expenses under this program include but are not limited to rescue operations, restoring public works and infrastructure to their pre-disaster condition, as well as replacing or repairing basic essential personal property of individuals, small businesses and farmsteads.

I will share with my hon. colleague that the order in council has been issued and that the negotiations with the province are currently under way.

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

6:15 p.m.

NDP

Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC

Mr. Speaker, the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund is an excellent program for funding permanent solutions to natural disasters, solutions that consider climate impacts and the benefits of retaining natural assets and restoring ecological function. The city and regional district are looking forward to hearing the decision on DMAF and implementing their progressive and innovative proposal.

The DFAA is also a critical program. In support of the modernization of provincial DFA programs, we also encourage efforts in federal-provincial agreements under Public Safety Canada to support the delivery of permanent solutions such as land acquisition immediately following flooding disasters, as was demonstrated in recent flood recovery in New Brunswick.

The residents of Grand Forks and the Kettle Valley have had a very difficult year. Many are desperately hoping for good news, and we are all waiting to hear that the federal government will bring that better future to Boundary Country.

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

6:20 p.m.

Liberal

Karen McCrimmon Liberal Kanata—Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is right. There is the immediate response for when it comes to rebuilding for a particular emergency situation, but there is also the longer-term mitigation efforts that need to be made in order to adjust our communities to the realities of climate change. We are moving forward with both these kinds of initiatives.

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

6:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:20 p.m.)