I'd be happy to.
Mr. Chair, I would like to move the motion that was put on notice several days ago. I'll try to do this nice and slow so it's interpreted for our colleagues.
I move:
That, given the importance of freshwater ecosystem services to the prosperity, sustainability, and resilience of British Columbian communities, and given the increasingly severe impacts of climate change including drought, wildfires, and floods, the committee urge the federal government to work with the Government of British Columbia to establish a $1 billion watershed security fund; that the Committee report this to the House; and that the government table a written response.
If I could speak to this briefly, Mr. Chair, I found the testimony of Mr. Jesse Zeman, from the BC Wildlife Federation, particularly compelling. He laid out the watershed restoration work that his organization's members have conducted over the past number of years. Looking at notes from that meeting, it looks like, since 2021, the BC Wildlife Federation has delivered over 230 projects and over 10 million dollars' worth of on-the-ground restoration. Their partners include first nations, environmental NGOs, local communities, private landowners, the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.
Speaking of the Province of British Columbia, the province I live in has recently committed an investment of $100 million to this watershed security fund. I think that this vision of a billion-dollar fund that can go into the sort of grassroots activity that Mr. Zeman was speaking to represents a really exciting opportunity. A broad cross-section of British Columbia is engaged in this work. I think it brings together groups from different sectors to work together toward the security of freshwater ecosystems. Particularly in the wake of the atmospheric rivers that we saw in B.C. and the class 5 drought this year, which was really devastating for our region's farmers, this work has never been more important than it is now.
I think that, with this idea of working with the Province of B.C., with private philanthropic investors and the federal government, we can put together a fund that is large enough to make a significant difference in our watersheds.
Maybe, Mr. Chair, I'll leave it at that. I think that Ms. Botelho, who presented earlier in this meeting from Watersheds BC, also spoke to the importance of this work. If the committee can send a strong message to the federal government that they want to see this kind of matching investment....
Here's what I want to note, Mr. Chair: The federal government's freshwater action plan to date has seen a sizable investment in the Great Lakes and in Lake Winnipeg. Of the $70.5 million that's been committed, $44.8 million has gone to the Great Lakes, and $25.7 million to Lake Winnipeg. In British Columbia, we see a provincial government that is very motivated to work on these freshwater issues—the issues of watershed security. I think it really behooves the federal government to come to the table with a matching investment, so we can build this fund and empower the kind of grassroots work that Mr. Zeman was talking about.
With that, Mr. Chair, and noting that it's exactly 1:30, I would like to move that this motion be postponed until Tuesday, December 5, at 11 a.m.