Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the wonderful people of Abbotsford for continuing to support my work in the House and my representation of their interests as their MP.
Notwithstanding the disaster that has befallen our community, I am confident that the people of Abbotsford are up to the enormous task of recovering and rebuilding from the calamity that has engulfed us. By now, Canadians will have heard, and indeed much of the rest of the world has taken notice, of the catastrophe that struck our peaceful Fraser Valley and other sections of southern British Columbia.
Like Noah of old, we were told that a historic weather event was on its way, and the climatologists called it an “atmospheric river”. That was a term unfamiliar to most of us. We certainly had no idea how bad and devastating that event would be.
In all of my years living in greater Vancouver and in the Fraser Valley, I have never, ever experienced so much rain. In fact, it rained so hard that the rainfall set records in 20 of our local communities. For example, Abbotsford had 173 millimetres of rain within a 24-hour period, Chilliwack had 219 millimetres and Hope had 252 millimetres all at one time, and the destruction was enormous.
Creeks and rivers cascaded down mountainsides, overflowed their banks and surged across flood plains. Waterlogged hillsides collapsed and became rock and mudslides that buried and destroyed highways and bridges, rail lines, hydro and telecommunication lines, and other critical infrastructure. Culverts, drainage pipes and ditches were all overwhelmed. Roads were closed as massive puddles and ponds formed on many roadways throughout our region. Dikes were breached in many places, especially in Abbotsford. Our Barrowtown Pump Station was overwhelmed and was on the verge of collapse. Homes, businesses and farms became submerged. Whole communities, like Merritt and Princeton, had to be evacuated.
Flooding also set off explosions and at least one fire that destroyed at least one business in Abbotsford. Manure pits were compromised and began polluting the gathering flood waters in the surrounding land. Livestock ran out of feed and thousands of animals drowned or had to be euthanized.
In some communities, entire sewer and water systems were overrun and collapsed. Vehicles, machinery and other property were swept away, and 17,000 British Columbians across our province had to be evacuated. Communities such as Hope, Lytton and Chilliwack were left completely stranded as all transportation routes were cut off, at least temporarily. Hoarding and, sadly, even isolated looting has led to empty store shelves in some of our communities.
In my hometown of Abbotsford, the situation went from bad to worse to desperate. Homes on hillsides began to flood as gutters and drainpipes could not handle the excessive rain. Then the Sumas River began to breach its dikes that had been constructed to drain Sumas Prairie some 100 years ago. To make matters worse, the Nooksack River in the state of Washington to the south of us also began to flood, and washed over the border into Canada and across Sumas Prairie. Riverbanks and roadbeds began to erode, compromising flood protection and the safety of travel on those very roads.
As the flooding became worse, our number one priority was human safety, then it was animal rescue and lastly it was protection of property. The call went out for help from anywhere, from anyone, and our community stepped up big time. Local city officials, led by Mayor Braun, and B.C.'s Emergency Support Services supervised the logistical response on the ground and oversaw the evacuation of hundreds of residents to drier ground. The Canadian Armed Forces also helped out with this effort, evacuating people and animals from flooded areas and transporting equipment and feed to where it was most needed. Farmers from all over began helping each other move livestock to drier ground and clean up flooded homes and outbuildings.
In fact, one story made it to the national news. It was about one of our residents who took his sea-doo out on the flood waters and helped pull cattle to safety, if members can imagine that. Organizations like our local churches offered food and shelter to those needing it. Organizations like Archway, the Salvation Army, the Mennonite Central Committee and the Red Cross also provided food, shelter, clothing and counselling, as did community volunteers, who offered their homes and food to stranded travellers in places like Hope.
Our trucking industry mobilized and was able to deliver hundreds and hundreds of dump truck loads of fill to the dike breach at the Number 4 Road, thereby stanching the flow of water from the Sumas River and finally allowing the prairie to begin to drain. Gratefully, our local city workers, volunteers and armed forces were able to sandbag and keep the Barrowtown Pump Station operating. Thank goodness. Even performers Rosemary Siemens and Eli Bennett entertained displaced residents at Abbotsford's Tradex building at no charge.
I was among a number of local MPs who travelled to Ottawa and met with a number of ministers from the federal government who are responsible for the federal flood response, including the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, whom I thank for taking the meeting, and the Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada. He was present as we shared thoughts with him on this immense disaster that is being borne by communities across British Columbia.
We are deeply grateful to the thousands of Canadians who have stepped up to donate relief and to aid in recovery efforts. I send a special thanks to the University of the Fraser Valley, the Abbotsford Community Foundation and the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce for setting up the Abbotsford disaster relief fund to manage the outpouring of generosity from Canadians across our country. I want to repeat that. It is the Abbotsford disaster relief fund. Anyone who googles it will find it on the Internet. Again, I send a big thanks to Canadians across this great country of ours for stepping up, delivering, donating and helping out.
There are serious economic consequences to this disaster. Both major rail lines, CP and CN, are badly damaged and will take time to be fully repaired. The good news is that today CP began to travel on its tracks again, and I understand that tomorrow CN will be doing the same. It is always nice to have a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
I also note that Highways 1, 3, 5 and 7 have all been badly damaged by rock and mudslides and were closed for days. In fact, Highway 5, Coquihalla, will take a lot of time to restore to its former condition. It is a mess.
Then there is the Vancouver port, which is Canada's largest. It has logistically been cut off from the rest of the country. That alone has stranded much of the 550 million dollars' worth of cargo that enters and leaves our port daily. Let us think of that. Cargo worth over half a billion dollars a day is going in and out of our port and it is stranded. Right now, it is impossible to send consumer goods and food eastward across the Rockies by truck and rail.
Another thing many British Columbians forget is that 50% of all farm gate revenues in British Columbia emanate from Abbotsford. We are the heart of farming country in British Columbia, and much of that has been stranded. For example, as the flood got worse, our farmers found it increasingly difficult to buy feed for their cattle, chickens and other livestock. Dairy farmers desperately scrambled to get their cows to higher ground and ended up having to dump milk because there was no way to get it to the processors. The processors then had no way of getting their tasty products to other markets across Canada.
Schools were closed as teachers were unable to move across the flood zone to teach students in another part of our region. Businesses and stores in or close to the flood zone were shut down, at least temporarily.
Traffic in some parts of our region became badly snarled as key transportation quarters were shut down because of damaged roads and roadbeds, and that included the Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 1, which connects us to the rest of Canada. As the flooding recedes, it will take some time for engineers to determine the structural integrity of that major highway. Tens of thousands of cars and trucks travel that road every single day.
There are massive economic consequences, as everyday trade and commerce have been badly disrupted. In fact, the pre-existing supply chain constraints that were already creating significant inflationary pressures on our economy and on Canadians have been exacerbated by this event. It will take years to assess the economic damage this flood will inflict upon our country. Suffice it to say that the damage and costs will be in the many billions of dollars.
What are the human consequences? These are perhaps the most important ones. Sadly, at least four people have lost their lives as a result of this atmospheric river event. The education of our children has been disrupted. Businesses have been badly damaged and in some cases lost. Families have lost their homes, including heirlooms and memorabilia, and will need to rebuild and renovate. In many cases, insurance is non-existent or is insufficient to replace lost property.
Some employees have lost their ability to work because of the flood. In other words, life in general has again, right after the COVID event, been disrupted, this time through a weather event. The emotional and mental health costs will be enormous.
Where are we now? The minister is quite right: The flood waters are beginning to recede. However, sadly, more flood events are on their way. In fact, the first one appears to be arriving tonight. That is not good news, and there are a couple of other weather events right behind it.
We are not through this yet. Again, we do not know how bad this will be, but it will put further pressure on our dike, pump and drainage systems. Farmers and displaced homeowners are now beginning to clean up their homes and barns, hoping for the best and that this is as bad as it is going to get.
There is rotting debris everywhere, as might be expected, including canisters, barrels and containers carrying unknown substances. Some of these are almost certainly toxic. We know there are pesticides floating around on Sumas Prairie, which is not good. It is estimated that some 2,000 cattle have died in this flood and will quickly have to be removed and disposed of. Oil slicks have been identified from the air and attempts are being made to identify the source of those slicks.
There is some other good news. Highway 7 is partially open and Highway 3 is open again. My hope is at least one or two lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway will soon be restored for traffic. Also, as more good news, the pumps at Barrowtown, the last defence before we are drowned by the mighty Fraser River, are still working, and the Sumas dike has been temporarily repaired and is holding.
Sadly, there are those who chose our time of need and solidarity to engage in public finger pointing. It is a very small minority but they are out there. To be sure, the time for finger pointing will come. There is more than enough blame to go around for our failure to be fully prepared for this event. However, right now, as my colleague from Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon has repeatedly said, it is time for all hands on deck and for a team Canada approach to this disaster. I appreciate the minister's remarks as well. He clearly wants to be part of this team Canada approach. We stand with him in helping the residents of the Fraser Valley and the rest of British Columbia recover from this event.
What have we learned from this massive weather event? First, time is not on our side. These kinds of events will occur with increasing regularity. The effects of a changing climate are becoming increasingly self-evident as we experience more heat domes, forest fires, droughts, massive rainstorms and other types of weather events.
Second, we were not prepared for this event, even though we should have seen it coming. In fact, I have in my hands a report that is less than a year old from the city council of Abbotsford. It highlights the efforts that have been made over the years to try to address the flood problem in Abbotsford. It is less than one year old. Everybody is implicated. There was even an international task force struck, which included representatives from federal, provincial and municipal governments, and the Americans, so this should have come as no surprise to us. The bottom line is that we all knew what the risks were and should have seen it coming, but nothing substantive was ever done about it.
Third, our advanced emergency warning system was not timely or rigorous enough. Had we taken warnings seriously, surely some of our residents would have been able to evacuate earlier and save their animals and property.
Fourth, we have also learned that our diking and other drainage infrastructure is much too old and insufficient to handle future events like this. Dikes will need to be raised and upgraded to modern seismic standards. Riverbanks will need to be reinforced to ensure they are able to withstand future rain events.
Fifth, we will need to re-evaluate the future flood risks of the Fraser River giving way, pouring over the banks and breaching our dikes, which providentially it did not, and the extent to which we will prohibit the dredging of that river in order to preserve fish habitat. Let me be clear. Habitat is critical to the long-term sustainability of our fisheries, but there is also human life and property to consider. The reality is that increasing numbers of sand bars in the Fraser River are redirecting the river flow against these old existing dikes, which is eroding the foundations of this aging infrastructure. Therefore, I say to the ministers of the environment, fisheries, infrastructure, public safety and emergency preparedness that the federal government must act immediately to address this problem, and it is an expensive one.
Our country will also need a comprehensive adaptation plan to address future weather-related events like this one. I noticed that yesterday's throne speech referenced the government's intention to develop a national adaptation strategy. This all sounds fine and dandy, but I certainly hope it is not another one of the Prime Minister's empty virtue-signalling promises.
This strategy and corresponding plan will take massive investments in infrastructure, into the billions of dollars. This strategy must also call for greater awareness to be built into our local government planning and regulatory processes to ensure we beef up resiliency. Finally, the recovery effort will require significant funding and logistical support from all levels of government.
I know we all mourn the loss of life that this flood has brought about and the massive loss and displacement that has taken place throughout southern British Columbia. Gratefully, Abbotsford has not yet seen loss of life. I know from speaking to my constituents that they have not lost hope for a brighter future yet to come, but the responsibility rests with us, their properly elected federal representatives, to secure that future and ensure future generations can live the Canadian dream.
In the coming weeks and months, we Conservatives will be calling on the Liberal government to step up and be counted in delivering the necessary support to communities such as Abbotsford that have been devastated by this flood. We will be calling upon the government to make the smart yet expensive investments that will keep our people and property safe. We will call upon the Liberal government to partner with the province and the U.S. to ensure that, in the future, more timely advance notice of such events is given to affected communities.
In closing, even though we British Columbians are grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from our Canadian family during this time of need, I know with absolute certainty that we can and probably should have done better. We should have been better in planning for such disasters, better in adapting, better in making long-term investments for public safety, and better in supporting each other through timely communications and information-sharing.
The devastation of this rainstorm did not have to happen, but it did. Let us learn from it. Future generations are counting on us. I look forward to my colleagues' questions.
