Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to express my sorrow and sincere condolences to the family and friends of the four firefighters who lost their lives in a crash last week in northern B.C. This brings to eight the number of firefighters we have lost in Canada in the direct line of duty this wildfire season. They died protecting their fellow Canadians. We, as a nation, need to recognize the sacrifice.
I would like to provide an update on what has been happening on the ground. These past weeks, the wildfire risk, while still present, has greatly diminished across the country, but this summer, over 6,000 wildland fires burned more than 17 million hectares of land in Canada, the equivalent of roughly twice the land mass of the province of New Brunswick.
More than 200,000 Canadians were forced to flee from their homes, and too many of them now have no home to return to. Particularly this year, we have seen the dire effects of climate change destroy communities and livelihoods. I join the member opposite in her call for action on climate change. I know she stands with our government in support of the urgent need to address this challenge.
This summer, once again, our government responded “present” when provinces were confronted with challenging situations they could not face alone. During this year's wildfire season, the Government of Canada received and approved 11 requests for assistance, RFAs, related to wildfire situations in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.
Through these RFAs, we deployed Canadian Armed Forces through Operation LENTUS to provide support in a wide range of roles, including personnel for planning, coordination, basic firefighting, airlift resources and engineering support.
Multiple federal departments were also engaged in assisting Canadians, like Employment and Social Development Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, the RCMP, the Canadian Coast Guard, Health Canada, Parks Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, to make sure all hands were on deck to help Canadians through this difficult time.
I have just provided an overview of our immediate response to the emergency situations under way across the country this summer.
When the smoke clears, we can see the damage that has been done, and we know that we will face a long road back to normal. That is why disaster financial assistance arrangements are so important.
When a disaster costs a province more than it can bear, the federal government can cover up to 90% of the costs, including uninsurable damage to principal residences.
When disaster strikes, Canadians can rest assured that the federal government will be there to help them through the response and recovery. As the member opposite said, we have to work in lockstep with our provinces and territories, and indigenous communities to address our new reality.
I look forward to working with the member of Parliament for Saanich—Gulf Islands on making sure that Canada is ready and able to respond.