Environment committee  In addition, we must dispel the false perception that water can be contained, channelled and controlled. As you know, because of climate change, there is too much water in some places and not enough elsewhere. If we were smart and allowed waterways to flow freely, they could help us better adapt to climate change. I bring this up because we are mediators in the field of information.

Environment committee  Can you elaborate on this very simple conclusion that one of my constituents told me about? The municipalities in my riding recognize that failing to address climate change comes with a major financial cost. As I said earlier, water shortages, extreme climate events and harmful insects are raising concerns for farmers and for the resiliency of municipal infrastructures in my riding.

Environment committee  With respect to cross-border collaboration, the minute we take any of that partnership for granted, it begins to fall apart. There are lots of external threats. There are lots of environmental challenges, like climate change and lots of other things, but certainly complacency is top of the list.

Environment committee  These reductionist and often energy-centric policies, which ignore how investment in the water and agricultural sector benefit our fight against climate change, hunger, poor health, poverty and injustice, are doomed to fail and must be immediately revised. Robust water policies that put farmers at the centre are not vulnerable to the changes of political appetite in Ottawa or any other capital in the world.

Environment committee  As we saw last year, Canada must be ready to defend its lack of action when those things happen because it has not done enough to fight climate change. That is arguably a threat to national security. What does the government need to do immediately to prepare for that?

Environment committee  Typically, what happens with all different types of scientific studies is that there's a component where indigenous science.... There are many different terms, but recently Environment and Climate Change Canada has an indigenous science branch, so I prefer to use the wording that government is using. Indigenous science is included in the report, and—

Environment committee  Beyond and behind all of these events, they are the institution supported by the member states that are there to help in humanitarian ways, and without that we would not be able to help refugees or put people back on a course for a productive life in a different place. More importantly, we are there when there are drought crises and climate change impacts, and countries like Canada, as donors and also participants in those particular programs, are vital to holding our world together right now in a period of very great geopolitical instability.

Environment committee  Madramootoo—with respect to international development and how important it is that we ensure that global water security and food insecurity are not issues that persist. Particularly, because of climate change right now, we're seeing more frequent droughts, floods and extreme weather events, which are impacting people's food security, which just increases a lot of unrest around the world.

Environment committee  In jurisdictions, once you get up to the level of power and authority, it gets a little harder, and I think that climate change is making that more difficult. You have to remember that the boundary waters treaty was created in 1909 over just that kind of conflict. It was based out of some things that were happening between Alberta and Montana at the time with water apportionment issues, and this tool is meant for just that kind of situation.

Environment committee  The creation of a Canada water agency could potentially be one means by which Canada advances water policy at home, while at the same time significantly enhancing its visibility and impact on the global water stage, but it can't do it by itself. The urgency of responding to climate change-induced acceleration of the global water cycle should be an impetus for governments at all levels, but especially federally, to work harder to coordinate and orchestrate the significant capacity in Canada's water sector for the benefit of the country and the world.

Environment committee  Beneficial management practices that incorporate wetlands, grasslands, cover crops, minimum tillage and controlled drainage all promote surface water and groundwater availability, improve water quality and resiliency to flood, drought and disease stress. As climate change continues to impact surface water, groundwater is becoming increasingly important to agriculture and ecosystem productivity, yet initiatives currently proposed to address water resources in Canada ignore groundwater.

Environment committee  Communities are an essential part of Canada's ability to adapt to freshwater issues and climate change. DataStream works with more than 150 community organizations, indigenous and non-indigenous, that are out on their waters, monitoring and responding to environmental changes as they happen.

Environment committee  With regard to meeting with witnesses from the provinces and territories, including Quebec, at the beginning of the study I spoke with the Quebec minister of the environment, the fight against climate change, wildlife and parks, Mr. Benoit Charette, and he told me that he did not want to appear before our committee. I started looking into it and I was told that Quebec ministers don't usually appear before parliamentary committees.

Environment committee  It reads as follows: Given that: (a) the Liberal government is planning to hike taxes on Canadians by increasing their carbon tax by 23% on April 1, 2024; (b) a typical family of four will have to pay $700 more in groceries in 2024; (c) nearly two million Canadians used a food bank in a single month in 2023; (d) Canadians cannot afford further tax hikes; (e) Minister Guilbeault admitted that “the government does not measure the annual amount of emissions that are directly reduced by federal carbon pricing”; (f) Canada now ranks 62 out of 67 countries, dropping four places from the previous year, according to the Climate Change Performance Index; The committee call on the Liberal government to cancel their planned tax hike on April 1, 2024; abandon their plan to quadruple the carbon tax to provide Canadians financial relief on their gas, groceries, and home heating; acknowledge that the carbon tax is not an environmental plan, it’s a tax plan; and that the committee report its opinion to the House.

Environment committee  They also told us that more research, monitoring and modelling is needed to anticipate and track climate change and other threats to freshwater quality, quantity and the health and functioning of ecosystems. This is particularly around fresh water, including floods and drought prediction. On other panels we've explored the fact that here in Ontario we have the benefit of conservation authorities, which is a unique model in Canada that might be replicated precisely to learn from best practices and reduce some redundancies.