Environment Committee on April 30th, 2024

[Wayne Jenkinson, Executive Director, National Hydrological Services, Department of the Environment]

Thank you.

I don't know if there's more that I can add, except to say that in terms of the impact, I believe the intent of the bill as written is to explore ways to better communicate flood forecasting and forecasting tools to Canadians. I don't know that this would necessarily lead to implications for insurability in the context of this bill.

I suppose that's my answer to that question. I think the insurance industry does fit nicely within industry generally. That's about all I can add to this.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Thank you.

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Mr. Leslie, you're next on the list.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome.

Does this proposed amendment provide certainty? Without it, is it possible that the insurance industry could not be included in consultations?

[Wayne Jenkinson]

I don't believe it would mean that they could not be included in consultations.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

It would just provide certainty that they would be.

[Stephanie Lane]

Definitely. By including the insurance industry as one of the listed parties with whom the minister must consult in developing this strategy, the minister would have to consult with the insurance industry.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you.

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

I have no other speakers on my list, so I'm ready to call the question. We'll vote on CPC-2 as amended.

(Amendment as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

CPC-2 as amended carries, and therefore Liberal-2 cannot be moved.

We will go to Liberal-3. We're still on clause 3.

Ms. Taylor Roy, would you like to move this one?

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think this amendment actually simplifies what was in paragraph 3(3)(d), removes some duplication and also ensures, as Mr. Mazier said earlier, that there is no spending. It wouldn't be there anyway, but it makes it very clear that this is leveraging existing government services, coordinating between the provinces and the territories, and using the national hydrological services of ECCC and the meteorological service of Canada, which are already in place, of course, to look at the modelling. We all know that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada also uses that right now. It just removes the reference to the Canada water agency and deals with the existing agencies that are here carrying out the purpose of this bill.

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you.

Does anyone want to speak further to this?

We'll call the question on Liberal-3.

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

(Clause 3 as amended agreed to)

(On clause 4)

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

We'll now move to clause 4. The first amendment we have is G-2.

Mr. van Koeverden, would you like to move G-2?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Sure.

This would amend subclause 4(2):

The Minister must publish the report on the website of the Department of the Environment within 10 days after the day on which the report is tabled in both Houses of Parliament.

Just changing some words here, it would now say:

The Minister must publish the report on a Government of Canada website within 10 days after the day on which the report is tabled in both Houses of Parliament.

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Okay.

Mr. Leslie.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Chair, I'd just like to ask, where would you see this being published?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

That's a good question. I think it's just that “the website of the Department of the Environment” isn't necessarily a thing. There's the Department of the Environment and Climate Change. I think this is just common practice, to be honest. We could ask the officials if they have a preference about which website it gets published on.

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Would the officials like to comment?

Mr. Mazier.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

I can elaborate, if you'd like. Maybe it will satisfy the question.

All Government of Canada departments, including Environment and Climate Change Canada, publish their documents on the Government of Canada website rather than on specific departmental websites. This would just follow that rubric.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. van Koeverden said something about how this department or this site doesn't exist right now.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Specifically, the department is called the Department of the Environment and Climate Change, and that's not what is listed on the original. It's neither here nor there. All Government of Canada departments—

[An hon. member]

We're good.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Yes, I think we're good.

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Okay. Are we good?

We'll call the question on G-2.

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

(Clause 4 as amended agreed to)

(On clause 5)

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

We'll now move to clause 5, where we have G-3 as the amendment.

Mr. van Koeverden, would you like to move G-3?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

It's the same thing as the previous one. It's just replacing the department with “Government of Canada website”.