Ontario, Quebec storm stresses need for climate-resilient infrastructure: feds

The federal government is stressing the need to build more climate-resilient infrastructure, in the wake of the deadly storm that ripped through Ontario and Quebec over the weekend.

While the Trudeau government has offered assistance, so far, the provinces hit by the storm haven’t requested any help to get power restored and communities cleaned up. Financial applications may come later.

Many people remain without electricity after the system swept through on Saturday, felling trees and destroying infrastructure in its path.

Like many others, Ottawa MP and Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness Yasir Naqvi hasn’t had power in three days.

He says what happened over the weekend drives home the importance of federal efforts to help build better public infrastructure — from power grids to dams — to protect against climate change. He notes the government is consulting with provinces on a plan.

“In determining the sequence of events in terms of how we build resiliency infrastructure, where investments need to be made,” said Naqvi. “Of course, the federal government is always ready, willing, and able.”

Naqvi could not provide a timeline for a detailed plan but says work is ongoing.

“The weather does not know jurisdictions and citizens expect that all the governments are working together in that regard,” he told CityNews. “Of course, it’s not something that could be done overnight. But we need to develop a plan, which we’re focused on.”

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The federal government has invested more than $3.4 billion in the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund since 2015. The fund is aimed at investing “in structural and natural infrastructure projects to increase the resilience of communities that are impacted by natural disasters triggered by climate change.”

The deadly storm that swept across Ontario and Quebec Saturday left at least 10 people dead and hundreds of thousands without power. It prompted some communities to declare states of emergencies.

Meanwhile, Environment Canada has confirmed to CityNews that an EF-2 tornado did touch down in Uxbridge, located in south-central Ontario, Saturday, leaving widespread damage.

The Northern Tornadoes Project has said preliminary results showed a long narrow path of enhanced damage was 4.26 km in length and 260 metres wide with a speed of 195 km/h.

It says it’s still investigating storm damage from the storm in Ottawa and London.

-With files from The Canadian Press