Liberals need to invest in emergency preparedness with more extreme climate events on the horizon

The NDP’s Critic for Emergency Preparedness, Richard Cannings, made the following statement:

“Canadians from coast to coast to coast have dealt with extreme weather this past year. From the extreme heat, catastrophic fires and floods in British Columbia, tornadoes in Ontario, and more floods in Atlantic Canada, people have lost their homes and even their lives as a result.

There is also a high financial cost. Last year alone, Canadians had $2.1 billion in insured losses. But many Canadians cannot access disaster insurance and small communities cannot afford the rebuilding costs under present cost-sharing models.

It's clear that these extreme weather events are not going away. In addition to having a strong plan to fight climate change, the federal government needs to invest in improved infrastructure and preventative action to help stop catastrophic natural disasters. This should include fully funding the FireSmart program, increased floodplain mapping and updating important infrastructure around communities and along the nation’s highways.

The Liberals cannot wait for disasters to happen before reacting, they need a proactive approach. New Democrats will continue to push for the government to invest in infrastructure upgrades and urgent action on the climate crisis before these disasters occur.”