Madam Chair, there is great pessimism in British Columbia, a province that has always been optimistic and forward looking in Confederation.
In the last few years British Columbians have braved the softwood lumber debacle, devastating forest fires, the mad cow crisis, drought, depletion of the salmon stocks, and hits to the tourism industry because of the SARS crisis. Yet there is another crisis, one that has received little public attention outside of British Columbia and that threatens greater economic devastation than all those I just mentioned. It is the mountain pine beetle infestation crisis.
These tiny insects, no bigger than a grain of rice, are a weapon of mass destruction with 500 to 1,000 invading a single tree. Within a year the needles of the tree turn an orangey red and the tree dies, but not before playing host to the eggs left behind by these plundering insects.
This epidemic, and there is no other word to describe it, is the single greatest insect infestation in Canada's history. Let me give the House some idea of the magnitude of this crisis and the impact it is having and will have far into the future.
At this moment the mountain pine beetle invasion has destroyed, or is affecting and threatens to destroy, a total of 173.5 million cubic feet of timber over an area of nine million hectares. That is a land mass area equal to about three-quarters of the total land mass of Sweden. The timber infested or already destroyed has a market value of $18 billion.
It is not just the great stands of timber that have been devastated or that are threatened. We have to remember that in north central British Columbia more than 90,000 people are employed as a result of the forest industry; 90,000 individuals and the families that go with them.
Consider that and we begin to understand why there is such pessimism in British Columbia. In a province that has always prided itself on looking forward, there are thousands of people looking forward and despairing at what they see.
Some people might ask, what is the problem with a few worm holes in a few trees? The answer is a lot of our traditional export markets will not buy wood that has been infested by the mountain pine beetle. That is because the beetles carry a fungus from tree to tree. That fungus leaves a blue stain throughout the tree because it is carried by water moving through the sapwood. The beetle might die, but the fungus survives and migrates through the tree.
The Japanese refuse to buy this stained wood and the Japanese account for 10% of our total shipments. That would be $1.8 billion in lost sales right there, and that is the highest grade and the highest value of our total export shipments.
The other danger is the increased chance of forest fires. The lodgepole pine, which is B.C.'s single most predominant species, is being killed off by the pine beetle. Those dead trees become kindling in the forests for future devastating fires such as we saw in British Columbia and in my riding only two years ago. We have already seen first hand what scorched earth looks like and we do not want to see any more of that in B.C. and we pray it will not be seen anywhere else in Canada.
What is at risk should be noted as well. There is the disruption of a stable supply of adequate and affordable timber. That disruption will lead to higher prices for finished wood and that means higher prices for new homes and home renovations.
The viability of the forest industry is threatened as well because without stable supply, maintaining market share is compromised.
That takes us back to individuals and their families. Jobs are threatened and revenue in our communities and the provincial government will be substantially reduced. If 90,000 jobs are at risk, consider the enormous impact that will have in terms of income tax revenues federally and provincially.
If whole tracts of pine disappear, the environmental impact will be equally enormous. There is, of course, the increased threat of forest fires, but we have to consider the impact of terrain stability or increased chance of flooding and landslides.
Wildlife habitat will be threatened. Scientists say that water temperatures in our lakes, streams and rivers could change.
Other commercial resources under threat are wilderness tourism, hunting, fishing, commercial fishing and outdoor recreation, all of which bring revenue to British Columbia and create employment.
Our province has embraced the concept of a sustainable resource but that concept is under threat because of the mountain pine beetle. If there is no resource to harvest, there is no money to invest in sustaining the resource for the future. If we cannot earn a profit from a tree, where do we get the incentive or the money to replace that tree for future harvesters?
What is frustrating and angering British Columbians is the indifference of the Liberal government to this crisis, a crisis most believe was caused in the first place by the federal government.
Years ago the fir bark beetle began its invasion that started out from the Chilcotin military reserve at Riske Creek. Pine beetles are now spilling out of that same reserve into surrounding forests. The cause was the stressing of the trees by previous military activity on those reserve lands. The federal government refused to consider the removal of infected trees which might have slowed down or even halted the spread.
Parks Canada is to blame as well. It is known that the mountain pine beetle can be found in the national parks, but Parks Canada sees this as a natural species creating a natural disturbance. That is what Parks Canada spokesperson Pamela Wright told the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources. She said:
Where a natural species is part of the natural disturbance regime occurring in a park, controlling that species would not necessarily be desirable. The natural disturbance regime is part of the process that drives the evolution and functioning of the park.
In other words, Parks Canada and the Liberal government will not clean up its own yard even if the mess creates a disaster for everyone in the neighbourhood.
For years now, my colleagues from all over British Columbia have been trying to convince the government that a natural disaster is occurring in British Columbia and the consequences will be enormously negative. All we have heard is platitudes such as pray for a cold snap, and we have yet to witness any action.
Ministers have gone so far as to say no requests have been made by the Government of British Columbia, and it was repeated again this evening. Would the Liberals have done anything if British Columbia had asked that the mountain pine beetles in the national parks be contained within park boundaries? No, because the Liberal government believes the pine beetle is a natural species doing what comes naturally, threatening to destroy a billion dollar industry.
Is it natural that 90,000 jobs are threatened? Is it natural that the families of 90,000 workers face a bleak and uncertain future? Is it the natural policy of the minority Liberals to let British Columbia slide into economic oblivion?
The time for platitudes and Liberal indifference is past. We are in the middle of a natural disaster in British Columbia that is greater than any ice storm, as disastrous as that was for Ontario. This is as great a natural disaster as the flooding in Quebec. This is as great a natural disaster as the flooding in Manitoba.
Why is it when British Columbia faces a disaster of unimaginable proportions the Liberals shake their heads, wring their hands, and offer platitudes and words of concern, but absolutely no action? Why can Liberals not acknowledge the contributions of British Columbians ever since Confederation in economic terms and respond to this crisis with cash and action?
The mountain pine beetle story is a story of federal incompetence and indifference. The Liberal government did not deal with the beetle infestation on federal park lands and as a result, billions of dollars of forest land outside those parks is under threat.
The time for Liberal hand wringing is past. The time for Liberal indifference to the crisis and excuses for inactivity is past. The time for Liberals ignoring a natural disaster of catastrophic proportions is past.
If the forestry industry in British Columbia is to be saved, it is time for the Liberal government to begin governing for all of Canada and to throw itself at this crisis with as much vigour as it throws at problems where it can harvest votes.
It is time the Liberal government demonstrated to British Colombians that it has the interest of all Canadians at heart and not just those who reward its arrogance and incompetence with votes at election time.
