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Canada must do more to mitigate climate disasters -watchdog

Published 2016-05-31, 11:53 a/m
© Reuters. Canada must do more to mitigate climate disasters -watchdog

OTTAWA, May 31 (Reuters) - The Canadian government needs to
do more to mitigate climate disasters such as floods and
wildfires, a top green watchdog said on Tuesday as the Alberta
town of Fort McMurray struggled to recover from a huge inferno.
Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand said Ottawa should
share more data with provincial policy-makers about long-term
severe weather effects such as increased rainfall and ensure
climate change trends were incorporated into building codes.
She also said federal programs had failed to encourage the
country's 10 provinces to invest in projects that reduced the
impact of floods, storms, droughts and fires.
"Overall, we found that the federal government had not done
enough to help mitigate the anticipated impacts of severe
weather events," she said in a report.
The Environmental Commissioner is an independent auditor who
provides legislators with analysis and recommendations on the
federal government's efforts to protect the environment.
As climate change starts to bite Canada will have to set
aside more money to deal with natural disasters, property
insurers said earlier this month.
Fort McMurray's 90,000 inhabitants were evacuated in early
May as an uncontrolled wildfire ripped through the town,
destroying about 10 percent of the homes.
The audit covered the period from April 2010 to May 2015,
when the former Conservative government was in power. The
Conservatives lost a federal election to the Liberals of Justin
Trudeau in October 2015.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale - in charge of
coordinating the federal response to natural disasters - planned
to comment later on Tuesday on Gelfand's announcement of the
audit's findings, a spokesman said.

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