“The flooding in Peguis First Nation is devastating and unprecedented. For the fifth time in 16 years, families are again being forced to evacuate their homes because successive Liberal and Conservative governments have failed to put in place the preventative infrastructure to protect them. Water levels have reached unprecedented levels during this flood.
 
Peguis was forcibly relocated to a flood plain by Canada and has been clear about the long term investments necessary to safeguard their community. Peguis is now also being impacted by climate change and the federal government is not stepping up.
 
It is clear Canada needs a climate change adaption strategy that invests in infrastructure to protect communities already impacted by climate change. New Democrats have a plan to amend the mandate of the Canada Infrastructure Bank to deliver the climate resistant infrastructure that communities desperately need.
 
In many Northern and Indigenous communities, people are forced to live in fear of extreme climate events including devastating flooding. The Liberals agree there is a climate crisis taking place, but they’re choosing not to prioritize investing in preventative infrastructure where it’s needed. Instead, they invested in a flawed Canada Infrastructure Bank that relies on public-private partnerships that help increase corporate profits and ignore the needs of people living in isolated communities who are most at risk from climate emergencies.
 
The NDP knows people in Indigenous communities are the hardest hit by climate change. That’s why I’ve proposed legislation in bill C-245  to give priority to infrastructure projects in Northern and Indigenous communities that will help to mitigate or adapt to climate change. We need a federal government to support Indigenous and Northern communities like Peguis in the fight against climate change now.”