Madam Speaker, I spoke on Bill C-241 at second reading in December 2025, and was largely positive about it. It was after yet another flood in my riding. I had received fresh promises from the Government of Canada that it was going to support British Columbia with its flood mitigation assessment and prevention measures to protect the most vital agricultural land in British Columbia, the national supply chains of the Trans Mountain pipeline, the Abbotsford International Airport and an international border crossing in an area that is so significant to Canada's national interest.
I think it is very important that we look at some of the amendments the government has passed with respect to this bill regarding the contents.
In section 3(d), I will note that the following amendment came forward, “measures that the Government of Canada may take in response to the assessments referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c)”.
Paragraph (a) talks about “an assessment of the need for, and the benefits of, national coordination, new investment and the application of novel technologies in forecasting floods and droughts”.
Paragraph (b) says there is “an assessment of the need for modelling that would support flood and drought forecasting”.
Paragraph (c) says the following:
an assessment of opportunities to develop national flood and drought forecasting across Canada in order to help meet the information needs of the provinces, municipalities, industry, including the insurance industry, and Indigenous communities in respect of short- and long-term flood and drought forecasting, including current and future flood-plain delineation;
The bill outlines the following:
The Minister, in collaboration with the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, must develop a national strategy....
What that change does is essentially give the government an out. In the earlier version of this legislation, the Government of Canada would have been compelled to, in other words must do, something in the legislation. The government weakened what it said it was going to do through the committee and amendment stages.
Why does this matter to me and to Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford? First off, none of the powers outlined in this bill do not already exist. Every day during Routine Proceedings, a minister of the Crown has the opportunity to provide a statement or a motion. Those periods of time that are enshrined in our democratic traditions are for ministers to show leadership to Canada for exactly these reasons. Nothing is stopping the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Minister of Industry, the Minister of Emergency Management and the Minister of the Environment from working together today. Nothing is stopping them from doing everything in this bill already.
I appreciate the sentiment, as I mentioned in my remarks at second reading in December 2025, that the government was paying attention to these important matters. In good faith I said those words, but forgive me if I am pessimistic about the amendments passed by the government and where we stand in my riding today. I have fought tooth and nail in this House for it to recognize the national interest of the Fraser Valley and other regions impacted by natural disasters never seen in the history of Canada. We were not prepared. There was no coordination. We had to fly in military equipment from Quebec. Infantry officers and their platoons from Alberta had to go through the United States to get into Canada because all of our roads were washed out.
No one in this House is doubting the need for science and forecasting, but what I am doubting now is the government's real desire to listen to science. How could it not compel or require the minister to act on sound science? Why weaken this bill when we have seen so much damage that has cost so much?
Earlier in the debate during Government Orders, it was mentioned that many pieces of legislation require a minister to table a report or review legislation. Many of those go unheard. We do not enforce the rules we put upon ourselves in the chamber.
My plea today is for the government to focus on the areas, like around Penticton, that were hit by forest fires in the Okanagan this summer. My plea is for the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Emergency Management, the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure to hear the pleas of people in Princeton, Chilliwack and Abbotsford who are calling for a west coast corridor initiative, because the government has not listened to its own forecasting already. My plea is for all the ministers to stand up during Routine Proceedings every day and use that time to update the House, in the way it was intended, on how they are taking advice from public servants on forecasting that has already taken place. Nothing is stopping a minister from adopting new technology. Nothing is stopping the ministers from coordinating together.
To my government friends, in good faith, my communities have suffered so much. My communities live with the uncertainty of whether or not their next crop will be destroyed, because we are having a dry season right now, and we do not know when the rains are going to come, nor how the soil is going to respond to that rain in its current state.
British Columbia does not know how to forecast properly for forest fires. Every year we hear, “We are going to be there for you.” I have had countless pats on the back. The ambassador to the U.K., Bill Blair, said he broke promises to me and the former member from Abbotsford, Ed Fast, about what they were going to do, and he said that in good faith. I ask the government to please help us.
A new MOU has been signed by the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia. There was a paragraph in it on Sumas flood mitigation. I sought clarity from the Clerk of the Privy Council on the application of the $20 million referenced to study a pump once again. I hope, when we have a new government in British Columbia, we can move forward on the critical scientific work that has already been done, and we can bring real and measurable change to the people of British Columbia, who have suffered unnecessarily due to inaction.