NDDN Committee Report

NDP Supplemental Opinion

The New Democratic Party would like to thank everyone involved in producing this report. Since May of 2022, we have heard from 29 witnesses, ranging from academics, government officials, provincial governments, international aid workers, academics, and veterans that served on the front lines of Operation Lentus. We thank all the witnesses that shared their expertise.

We also thank the Library of Parliament analysts, the committee clerk, the interpreters, and all House Administration staff that make our work possible.

This study was initiated after the devastating wildfire season of 2021. 8,693 square kilometers of forest was burned. The town of Lytton had most buildings destroyed. A deadly heat dome blanketed British Columbia and killed 619 British Columbians, with studies finding the heat dome was 34% larger and lasted 59% longer due to climate change.

The committee came together to study the devastating threat of climate change seen in 2021. But halfway through the study, we were rocked by the single largest climate catastrophe in Canadian history: the 2023 wildfires.

In a single wildfire season, 5% of our forests had burned. 15 million hectares burned, over seven times the national annual average. And Canada wasn’t prepared: we had 1,700 Canadians step up to assist in fighting wildfires, but we still required 5,500 international personnel throughout the fire season.

The 2023 wildfire season cause record-breaking devastation, including 232,000 Canadians being evacuated from their homes and displaced by wildfires, $3 billion in insured damages across Canada, and the death of 6 people.

The smoke from the wildfires should have been a wakeup call for the world. Across Canada and the United States, record air-quality alerts were issued as a Martian hue took over the skies. Children, seniors, and persons living with disabilities were cautioned to stay indoors to mitigate exposure. The smoke from our wildfires crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached Europe.

And the dystopian truth of our record wildfire is that it will only fuel worse and worse seasons to come. In the short-term, last season carried over at least 100 “zombie fires”, which smoldered over the winter season and are ready to reignite. The Patry Creek fire never ended – it remained dormant until earlier this spring, when it returned and contributed to the evacuation of 4,700 people in Fort Nelson. As we continue through the 2024 wildfire season, experts predict we will see more zombie fires reignite across Canada.

In the long-term, the wildfire season of 2023 released 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That is more than triple Canada’s entire industrial emissions. The size and severity of wildfires across Canada will only increase as carbon emissions cause longer drought seasons, hotter summers, and milder winters.

The experience of 2023’s wildfire season should send one message to the Government of Canada: Climate change is the largest, imminent, existential threat facing Canadian sovereignty and security.

This report was an opportunity for the Standing Committee on National Defence to declare this threat and mobilize to protect Canadians.

But once again, Canadians see the legacy parties undermining Canadian sovereignty and security in the face of wildfires. The Liberal federal government has allowed a piecemeal, reactive approach to the Federal Government’s role in combatting wildfires. And throughout the entire study, there was not a single Conservative member that named climate change as the cause of wildfires. Once again, Canadians see on climate change the Liberals delay while the Conservatives deny.

Canadians need leadership on combatting climate change. As Canadians live with the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, big oil and gas have raked in record profits while collecting Liberal and Conservative handouts. Our largest emitters have been gouging Canadians at the pumps while they pollute our air and exacerbate future natural disasters.

Given the existential threat of Climate Change, it is time for the federal government to show courage and leadership. It is time for the Canadian Armed Forces to take steps to better prepare for climate disasters and review their role in domestic operations to ensure they are ready to serve while maintaining operational readiness.

The NDP Recommends that:

Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada increase youth participation in combatting climate change and climate disasters by employing thousands of young adults in a youth climate corp.

Recommendation 2: That the Government of Canada declare Climate Change as the greatest medium and long-term threat to security in Canada and establish a new Defence Policy that recognizes the growing role of domestic operations.

Recommendation 3: That the Government of Canada establish a national adaptation strategy to build resilience against climate disasters and fund this through an excess profits tax on Big Oil.

Recommendation 4: That the Government of Canada establish a national civilian wildfire fighting force, acquire a national fleet of aerial firefighters and conduct a review on the feasibility of establishing an Aerial Fire Fighting Force.