Emergency Preparedness Secretary Bill Blair says the risk of future storms must be considered as British Columbia rebuilds after massive rainstorms and deadly mudslides.
Blair said it’s too early to estimate how much it will cost to repair all of the damage caused by the atmospheric flow that hit BC earlier this month.
The storm dropped nearly 12 inches of rain on some southern BC communities in less than two days, washing out major highways and railroad lines and triggering mudslides that killed at least four people. BC officials say repairs to some of the damaged infrastructure may take more than a year.
Blair said as reconstruction work begins, Canada must acknowledge how quickly critical infrastructure was damaged by the storm and rebuild better than before.
“I clearly think that the recent events in British Columbia and the floods that have taken place show that there is still work to be done to improve on building a more resilient environment for Canadians,” he said after Tuesday morning’s cabinet meeting.
“Dykes, the existing critical infrastructure, have been very badly affected and of course when rebuilding much of it we have to take these new weather events into account.”
Discussing how to rebuild a greener country after the COVID-19 pandemic, Blair said care must be taken to build a “more resilient country”.
“It means making sure we make the right investments to manage the impacts of climate change and to address the causes of climate change,” he said.
The Liberal Throne Speech on Tuesday spoke of the need to better prepare Canada to withstand floods, fires and other extreme weather conditions that are becoming more common as the warming planet changes climate patterns.
“The government will be there to rebuild in the communities devastated by these events,” Governor General Mary Simon read from the Senate. “This includes the development of Canada’s first-ever national adaptation strategy.”
The strategy was first promised in the updated environment and climate change plan a year ago, and in September’s election the Liberals reiterated it would be ready by the end of next year. The 2018 budget created a 10-year, $2 billion national disaster preparedness and adaptation fund, which was expanded in 2021 with an additional $1.2 billion now available over the next 12 years.
In 2019, a joint report by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated that making Canadian municipalities resilient to climate change would cost $5.3 billion per year.
Both the Conservatives and NDP plan to move an urgent debate this week on BC’s flooding and climate change resilience, and the Liberals say they will support the moves. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said part of the debate must include the issue of alignment.
Blair also said efforts must be made to let people know the risk, without directly mentioning the criticism the BC government has received for never using the national Alert Ready system, which sends alerts to cellphones broadcasts in a specific area to warn of danger, or amber alerts.
The system has been available since 2018, but BC is the only province that never issued a single alert, including last summer during the heat dome that killed hundreds and burned the town of Lytton, BC. Ontario, by comparison, sent 202 and Saskatchewan more than 100.
“I think first of all it’s really important to communicate with people who are going to be affected by these weather events so that they can take timely action,” Blair said.
– Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
RELATED: Coquihalla Highway will take months to rebuild from mud and rockfall damage
RELATED: Coquihalla aerial video shows highway destruction and collapse near Hope
