Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today. As this is the first opportunity I have had to thank the good people of Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola for their continued support, I would just thank them all. It is a big honour.
Let me begin by also congratulating all members on their election to this new Parliament. While there will undeniably be things we disagree upon, let us be mindful that Canadians sent us here to Parliament to find agreement and consensus.
I am deeply saddened that my first words in this new Parliament are in this debate while many of my constituents, in communities such as Merritt and Princeton, are facing unique and serious hardship as a result of flooding and the serious repercussions of the aftermath of that flooding. Indeed, as members shall hear from my colleagues, this devastating situation has impacted, and is impacting, other regions of British Columbia.
Let me begin by stating an old but important fact: Excrement runs downhill. I mention this because in many small rural communities, the most critical and important infrastructure works as follows: the community drinking water, be it sourced from a well or dammed lakes or rivers, is treated in whatever manner the community can afford and pumped to a community reservoir. From there it typically feeds via a gravity system down through the community to the wastewater treatment facility. The wastewater treatment facility is often located near a lake or a river, where treated effluent can be discharged safely.
The challenge of this basic design is that whenever there is flooding, it immediately runs downhill and overwhelms the river or lake. Yes, there is also some type of flood control and typically some infrastructure, be it dams, dikes or whatever, but once that infrastructure is compromised there is rarely any secondary line of defence. As the water levels rise with the flooding, it creates a situation where one of the very first pieces of community infrastructure that is compromised is the wastewater treatment plant. This is exactly what occurred in Merritt.
Once the wastewater treatment plant is compromised, the ability of a community to function is compromised. It does not end there. Once floodwaters have breached a wastewater treatment plant, those waters are now contaminated and considered toxic, and by extension unsafe. They essentially create a toxic cesspool.
The higher the waters rise, the more the contamination spreads. Once residences have been submersed and compromised, the community's water system is now also compromised and unsafe. This, of course, means the community they live in is essentially unlivable and unsafe. The reality is that next to nothing in their homes or in their civic infrastructure is designed to be submerged in toxic, contaminated, unsafe flood water.
Ultimately, this leads to evacuation orders. In British Columbia, our emergency notification system is not as capable and as ready as it could be. Evacuating thousands of citizens on very short notice is a serious logistical challenge. Where do they go? How do they get there? Seniors in care homes need to be evacuated, transported, and new care homes found. Others with mobility issues and those who lack their own transport are in serious trouble. Worse, when flooding brings mud and other debris, once-navigable streets become unnavigable to emergency vehicles and first responders.
If the storm has also taken out power lines or transmission lines and other communications infrastructure, such as has occurred in British Columbia recently, suddenly wireless communications are compromised. How do people get help? How do those emergency responders get notification about those who need help? These are all situations that people in Merritt, Princeton and elsewhere have faced.
In one local indigenous community, the bridge was washed out. It was the only way in or out of that community. There was no bridge, no power, no ability to evacuate and a compromised ability to communicate. Frankly, we are all extremely fortunate there were not more deaths as a result of this disaster.
In this case there was only one variable with all these serious challenges that made the critical difference, and that variable was the people. The people who live in Princeton and Merritt were the difference. They saved their neighbours, the vulnerable, their own families, friends and pets.
These are the people who are the unsung heroes and now they need our help. Many went to communities such as Kelowna or Kamloops, where in many cases they found evacuation centres that were overwhelmed. They found there was no place to go, no immediate assistance available. In reality, the evacuation centres and the provincial response could not keep up with the sudden, intense demand.
This left many people on their own, many living in their vehicles. Some found motels, but they did not have the funds to pay for them. As others have shared, their lines of credit on their credit cards are now full and they have no idea how they will pay that bill at the end of the month. Some, we should not forget, were trapped because the roads became unpassable for them.
The challenges from our compromised transportation infrastructure were immediately felt. Within 48 hours, many grocery stores were largely empty. Imagine someone having left their hometown of Merritt with literally nothing but the clothes on their back, and when they arrive in Kamloops or Kelowna the grocery stores are empty. That was the reality for many and is still a reality for some.
In the past days, members may have heard that residents are now allowed to come home. On the surface that sounds like a positive bit of progress, and for some it certainly is. Let me explain what coming home really means. We all know in many cases there will be a serious mess. Anything immersed in water must be removed and destroyed. That is a huge job in itself, and all that contaminated material will end up on the street, where it must be moved and properly disposed of. This also creates serious challenges.
That is where Princeton is right now. The mayor begged for Canadian Armed Forces personnel to help. We know there are Canadian Armed Forces boots on the ground now in B.C. to help. Fortunately, earlier today those personnel arrived in Princeton to provide this much-needed assistance. I am thankful for their service. I am thankful they are there.
These are just some of the challenges facing these citizens as they return home. Let me explain another challenge. Aside from removing their belongings and the serious mess left behind in their home, when people return they are likely to find either a red tag or a pink tag attached to their home. What does that mean?
If someone has a pink tag, it means there is a possibility the gas meter was submerged in flood water or that the gas appliances may have been impacted by water. If this is the case, the gas is now shut off and a licensed natural gas contractor has to be contacted to assess the natural gas system and relight the appliances.
If someone has a red tag, it means the gas meter was submerged in flood water and the gas meter is now shut off and locked. This requires a licensed gas contractor and serious work to rectify. As I am sure all members can appreciate, even in a large city it can be a challenge to obtain the services of a gas contractor. Imagine the challenges in a small community, where the demand is huge given these situations.
Who pays for these gas contractors and the expensive work required? What if someone's last dollar or line of credit was used up staying at a hotel? What does a person do? These are very real questions people in Merritt and Princeton are asking themselves right now.
While local residents are facing these challenges, let us not forget that many who call these communities home and are facing these challenges are also community leaders, such as those who work in the civic yards. The mayor in council, civic staff, first responders, highway maintenance, police and paramedics and others are under tremendous pressure right now. They not only have their own problems to deal with at home, but must get their communities up and running.
I mentioned earlier the need to get sewer waste water plants up and running to flush out city lines, and in many cases repair those lines because they are broken. Princeton has already had to authorize drilling another well.
This could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars not afforded for in the city budget, and here is one of the biggest problems: Currently, the disaster financial assistance arrangements program only covers 80% of the cost. At a time when a local government is facing a disaster and virtually all civic infrastructure is compromised, an 80% contribution from senior levels of government is not enough. In normal times, 80% seems great, but I spoke to Mayor Spencer Coyne today, and he says it is way above their ability to pay. It is tens of millions of dollars, that 20%.
This creates enormous stress on civic leaders who are the decision makers, but what choice do they have? If they cannot fully pressurize a water reservoir, they cannot have fire protection at a time when they most likely have gas leaks in their communities. While local government staff tries to restart all of the basic infrastructure that we all take for granted, let us keep in mind that in many of these communities the rental stocks were already very low. In places like Merritt and Princeton they were near zero before this occurred.
For example, Collettville, a section of Merritt, was hit the hardest by the flooding. It will be the last part to be able to have citizens return. Can members imagine a senior seeing on the television what looks like their modular home floating away, with all they had in it? How can they find shelter in a community they have called home for decades if there are no alternatives?
I have been told by Mayor Linda Brown that without some form of rapid housing from senior levels of government, some people will never return to Merritt because there is nothing for them to return to. She has expressed willingness to discuss potential municipal sites for some rapid housing, and I hope tonight's discussion will result in something concrete for these residents. Mayor Coyne in Princeton has voiced a similar willingness to connect.
I would like, at this point, to take a moment and sincerely thank all of those locally elected officials, the support staff they have, the municipal staff and most especially our first responders. They are doing tremendously remarkable and amazing work in the most challenging and demanding of circumstances. Members should keep in mind that, while all of this is going on, they are in a race against time, because every night the temperature drops farther below zero, and each day less and less back above zero. The heavy winter freeze is setting in, and there is likely a two- to three-week window of opportunity before some activities will need to be put off until the spring. Let us be mindful that the forecast is suggesting that tomorrow there could be, in some parts of British Columbia, another 80 millimetres of rainfall and storm-like conditions.
I could spend the rest of my allotted time tonight talking about the serious challenge that people in my riding, the good people of Merritt and Princeton, are facing, as well as the indigenous communities in both the Similkameen and the Nicola valleys; however, I am going to stop. I have shared some of these challenges with the House because I believe it is critically important that we, as democratically elected members of this place, have an understanding of what these communities are going through, because in this place we can be, and I submit we need to be, part of the solution.
Communities such as Merritt and Princeton are just two examples. We know that in the Fraser Valley there is another situation, as well as in Hope, Spences Bridge and elsewhere. All of these communities need to do more than just rebuild. They need to rebuild and reinforce.
Let there be no doubt: Our climate is changing. In my riding, since 2017 we have witnessed the once-in-200-years flood of Okanagan Lake not just once, but twice. We have had the worst wildfire activity and smoke that has compromised air quality to levels never previously experienced. This past summer, and this has been said by other members, we also had the heat dome with record heat levels that resulted in people dying. Now there is flooding, with more severe weather in the forecast.
What can we do? I do not profess to have all the answers. The need to consult in partnership with local, provincial and first nations communities is paramount.
I can pass just a few observations. In 2016, a rock slide damaged the Oliver irrigation canal. This is a critical piece of infrastructure that serves the entire South Okanagan farming community. I should say this is not in my riding, but that does not change the importance of the example, especially considering this infrastructure.
The community was prepared to invest its fair share for the repairs. The province stepped up to cover its share, but when it came to Ottawa paying its share, the answer was no. The bureaucrats said that the project did not fit into any established grant programs, and that was the end of it.
This is a serious problem. When critical agricultural infrastructure does not fit the criteria of Ottawa, it is not the fault of the residents of the South Okanagan. That is the fault of the bureaucracy and the thinking here in Ottawa. Going forward, we need grant funding programs that meet the needs of small communities as opposed to the political needs of a government in Ottawa.
Another observation is that in many small rural B.C. communities, the water services are provided by irrigation districts. Currently, these irrigation districts are not eligible for any senior government grant funding.
Let us just think about that. This is a serious problem. These small communities need funds to protect their water system from the threats of our changing climate, yet by design they are excluded from senior government grant funds, despite the fact that the users of these systems all pay taxes to provincial and federal governments. This situation has gone on for years, but I submit that we can no longer continue to ignore it.
Speaking of things we have to contend with, I spoke with the regional director from the areas around the village of Keremeos, who sent pictures of the dikes that are failing in his area and water that is leaking and flooding into largely older modular homes, largely of seniors. He told me that if they fail, the RCMP and the ambulance and fire station within the village of Keremeos would be at risk, complicating an already difficult situation.
While we are here contending with the challenges of flooded communities today, we need to acknowledge that there are other small communities that teeter without sustainable arrangements for the fixing and maintenance of the water infrastructures.
I am winding down, but I have just a few more observations. Many rural and indigenous communities still do not have high-speed broadband or wireless service. Despite the fact that Canadians living in rural communities pay their taxes to fund an infrastructure bank, it has been structured by the Liberal government in such a way that it will not be able to provide any benefit for any small community in Canada.
No matter how we try to cut all these observations I have shared, Ottawa is part of the problem and not the solution. That needs to change. I do not really want to point fingers or blame. If anything, that is part of the problem itself. We continually debate what is ultimately an “Ottawa knows best” policy that continues to adversely impact small rural communities. As our climate changes, we must ensure that Ottawa provides resources that meet the demands of these small rural communities just as much as it does for our bigger centres.
I am hopeful that in the days, weeks and months going forward, as communities like Princeton and Merritt try to rebuild, we will have a federal government in Ottawa that will find ways to be there to support these communities rather than telling them they do not fit the criteria. That is a challenge we need to be up for. Failure is not an option. For every citizen facing a loss and tough times in British Columbia right now, let this be our moment to stand with them and be there to support them.
