Debates of Nov. 18th, 2020

Fisheries and Oceans

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to go out with recreational fishers a number of weeks ago. We talked about important issues like mark-selective fishing.

Pacific salmon stocks are declining, many to historic lows, particularly in the Fraser River. Over 50 Pacific salmon populations are being considered for potential listing under the Species at Risk Act or are pending assessment by COSEWIC. Fraser chinook are included on this list, with 12 of 13 Fraser River chinook populations assessed as at risk of extinction. Only one is healthy.

The 2019 state of the salmon report indicated that Pacific salmon are being negatively affected by a range of factors, including climate change and warming waters, habitat degradation, changes in land and water use, increasing intensity of contaminants, acute one-time events such as toxic spills and landslides, illegal and unregulated fishing, and international fishing pressures.

Air, ocean and freshwater temperatures have reached record highs in B.C. and the Yukon in recent years. This impacts snowfall and snowmelt, which keep the rivers cool and flowing. Increasing water temperatures, changes to river flow patterns, flash floods, increased erosion and landslides are all climate change impacts affecting the quality of precious river and lake salmon habitat.

In the short term, DFO has acted to substantially reduce fishing pressure on Fraser chinook stocks to reduce the risk of further declines and provide time for recovery measures, with longer time horizons to produce results. While these fishing measures have had significant impacts on first nations, recreational and commercial harvesters, they have been necessary to protect dwindling populations.

Short-term recovery efforts have been further challenged on the Fraser by the discovery of the massive Big Bar landslide in June 2019. The slide has significantly impacted natural salmon passage, and extraordinary efforts by DFO, the Province of B.C. and first nations have been required to support the passage of thousands of salmon past the slide. In addition, several new emergency hatchery-enhancement efforts are also under way to support impacted chinook populations.

Over the longer term, the challenges facing many Pacific salmon stocks on the Canadian west coast are complex and require a long-term transformative strategy. There are a number of initiatives currently under way. They include the wild salmon policy implementation plan, the coastal restoration fund, the B.C. salmon restoration and innovation fund, additional funding from the Pacific Salmon Foundation, implementation funding for the renewed Pacific Salmon Treaty and the renewed Fisheries Act. They all focus on sustaining and recovering wild salmon from a variety of directions, including habitat restoration and protection, science and research, and education and stewardship.

While these new federal investments will help to support recovery, we also need to work with first nations, other levels of government and fishers to support innovative approaches and support salmon recovery and resiliency so we can continue to enjoy the ecological, cultural, social and economic benefits of a healthy Pacific salmon population and work to increase the amount of access and opportunity available to British Columbians and British Columbia fishers.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, what the parliamentary secretary just said sounds great, but we have actually talked to fishers on the water who are trying to implement some of these projects. I will list one. So far, the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition has successfully reared 1.87 million juvenile chinook through its Sooke sea pen project since it started in 2017. That has been achieved with 100% private funding. They have raised in excess of $300,000 to cover project costs, and DFO has not put up one single dollar, which is a shame.

Members can guess where these fish go. This year, fishers have seen the chinook return to the fishery, the southern resident killer whales feeding in the Juan de Fuca Strait near Sooke in late August and early September and double the number of fish in the Sooke River. It all indicates that the success of their efforts is real.

The parliamentary secretary talks about all this as being a great effort. The bottom line is that our fishers are so frustrated. They want to demonstrate areas for selective fishing where populations of salmon are sufficient. The recreational fishing industry can survive, and they can use these techniques to keep fishing. They are so frustrated that DFO is not listening to their concerns that they are protesting and demonstrating to say to DFO, “Look what we are doing.” They can really save these fish. They can catch the ones that are plentiful and not catch the ones that are having problems.

All I ask the minister and the parliamentary secretary to do is simply listen to these recreational fishers and truly listen to what they have to say. They have some great advice.

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Burnaby North—Seymour, BC]

Mr. Speaker, our salmon are in crisis, and there are many factors causing this, which I outlined in my speech.

I believe that, like me, my colleague wants to see increased access and opportunity for our fishers. I also believe we both want to see a more sustainable and abundant fishery available for the benefit of future generations.

To get to that future, we need to make tough decisions today, and not just tact decisions. If the member wants to get serious about saving wild Pacific salmon, then he needs to ask why he and his party voted against the Fisheries Act, why they voted against the Oceans Act and why they voted against the $142-million B.C. salmon restoration and innovation fund. He must also ask why his party continues to either vote against measures that fight climate change or, worse, deny it is even a serious problem altogether.

The member's party has a record that is glaringly against wild Pacific salmon, and I would encourage him to work with our government and his party to change that record going forward.

Infrastructure

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am here to talk about public transit in Metro Vancouver. It is a follow-up to a question I asked a couple of weeks ago, which I do not think I got an adequate answer to.

I will provide a bit of background. Metro Vancouver is located in the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia, which is a relatively small piece of real estate compared to the province and the country, but it is huge when it comes to strategic importance. Vancouver is Canada's front door to the Pacific Rim and our gateway to global trade in that part of the world.

However, it is also a very complex piece of real estate. It is bound to the north and the east by mountains, to the south by the U.S. border and to the west by the sea. There is nowhere to go. There is some spare land, but it is protected by the agricultural land reserve and there is a strong community consensus in the Lower Mainland that it is untouchable. Take it from me that there is nowhere to go except up, and we do that very well.

For any new real estate development in that area, the first step is to take down what is already there and rebuild to a much higher density, whether it is residential, commercial or industrial. That is the way Vancouver operates.

On top of all of that complexity, two and a half million people live in that area and every year about 50,000 people are added. The population of a small town drops right into the middle of all of that complexity. The only way that development works or is sustainable is that we have a great public transit system. The SkyTrain, contrary to other transit systems in North America, has an ever-increasing transit ridership and that is because the focus is on transit-oriented development.

That brings me to my ask, and that is for a federal funding commitment to extend the eastern end of the SkyTrain, which is in downtown Surrey, all way to downtown Langley. There are federal, provincial and municipal funding commitments to build the first phase of that to the Fleetwood area of Surrey, but we are looking for another $550 million from the federal government to extend it all the way into Langley.

I also want to talk about the housing affordability crisis in my area. Even in this year of COVID, prices have been going steadily up. There are about 9% or 10% price increases in my area. Rather than trying to reduce demand, which goes completely contrary to what we are trying to do, I would say we should increase the supply of housing, and a great way to do that is to extend the SkyTrain into Langley and urge the provincial and municipal governments to continue developing in that area.

Hundreds of thousands of people in this area now live an elevator ride and about 400 steps from the nearest SkyTrain station. Flying into Vancouver on a clear day, people can see exactly where the SkyTrain route is from the cluster of high-rises that spring up in close proximity to the SkyTrain station. That is what we are looking for: a commitment of $550 million to complete the project all the way to Langley city.

I was talking to Mike Buda, who is the executive director of the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation, and he said that it would be imprudent for us to put the shovels down at the end of phase one. We need to continue right into phase two. There are economies of scale, there will be savings to be able to do that and it is required. We are looking for a federal funding commitment of $550 million.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member for Langley—Aldergrove that as a career city planner with a 20-plus year career before I came to this place, I know very well that the best land use plan is, in fact, a good transit plan. I appreciate his remarks on transit-oriented development.

That is one of the reasons why I know and live the knowledge that safe, modern, effective and efficient public transit systems are absolutely fundamental for the health and sustainability of our communities even at the best of times. However, now more than ever we recognize the important role that transit continues to play in moving Canadians during this time of the pandemic, including getting health professionals, first responders, grocery store workers and others to their places of work.

Key to the health and sustainability of our public transit networks are strategic investments. That is why the government committed $28.7 billion in stable, predictable, long-term funding to build the new urban transit networks and service extensions that will transform the way Canadians live, move and work. In fact, the member will be happy to know that since November 2015, our government has already invested more than $13.3 billion in public transit. That is about 13 times the previous government's expenditure on transit from 2011 to 2015.

Public transit is a major focus of Infrastructure Canada's funding programs. It is key to a more sustainable, lower-carbon economy and absolutely critical to supporting mobility and growth in our cities. It is about getting people around faster, cleaner and more cheaply. That is why, under the investing in Canada infrastructure program, ICIP, British Columbia stands to benefit from over $2.6 billion in funding for public transit projects that the province identifies as a priority.

The Government of Canada is very pleased, happy and committed to working closely with the Province of British Columbia to ensure that together we are investing in infrastructure that makes the lives of British Columbians better and greener, infrastructure like the funding for approximately 110 new handyDART buses in View Royal, which is double the current fleet size. That investment is strengthening the existing transit services for people with disabilities and helping to ensure that all residents have access to the opportunities and services they need.

The Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension project will create significant benefits for the surrounding communities. The project proposes to build 16 kilometres of elevated extension from the current Expo line along Fraser Highway, from King George Station to a new terminus in Langley City Centre. It includes eight new stations, two transit exchanges and 55 new vehicles. It is not only going to help further reduce gridlock, but it is going to shorten commutes for locals and give them more time to spend with their families, not to mention the air quality measures.

I am pleased to note that a business case for phase 1 of the project was submitted to Infrastructure Canada, requesting federal funding for the King George Station to Fleetwood part of the project. This would include four new stations and 25 new skytrains. We are working closely with our provincial counterparts to perform due diligence and analyze the business case that has been submitted by our provincial partner to ensure value for taxpayer money. We look forward to getting it built, creating jobs, reducing emissions and helping people get around their communities faster.

I want to thank the member for the opportunity to speak to what the Government of Canada is doing to support British Columbia's public transit priorities.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that was good to hear, but what was missing was a commitment for the $550 million to be invested by the federal government into phase 2 of the Fleetwood to Langley project. Is that ready to go? It has provincial support. The provincial government has promised to fund its portion of it. It has the regional mayors' council support. All it needs is a final commitment from the federal government. It is ready to go.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the Government of Canada is committed to investing in public transit infrastructure projects across the country and has made the dollars necessary available. We entirely understand that projects of all sizes can have a major impact.

For example, a new handi-van can change the lives of residents living with disabilities by making their communities more accessible and increasing their independence. A new light rail transit network can get hundreds of buses off the street and significantly reduce GHG emissions, commute times and gridlock.

It is through exactly this kind of smart, strategic investment in public transit infrastructure that we will help improve the quality of life of British Columbians and all Canadians and make their communities more liveable, sustainable and healthier.

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

It being 7:38 p.m. the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:38 p.m.)