"Rural British Columbian communities like Princeton, Tulameen and Merritt are the very face of climate change in Canada. "
Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne spoke to the House of Commons on Thursday morning to share insight as a rural area B.C. mayor on adapting infrastructure to face climate change.
Coyne, along with Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz, were suggested as speakers by Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas to talk to Canada's Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
"The threat from climate events is real and in my community, we have climate refugees right now in temporary housing," Coyne said in his opening remarks to the house Thursday morning.
"From unprecedented flooding to relentless fire seasons, the climate emergency is not a what if, we are living it.
He added that his community is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in mitigation work to adapt to the new climate reality.
"Communities like ours need the senior government to be the largest partner at the table when we are talking about flood mitigation."
With miles of dike works that protect the rural and unincorporated communities, there is a gap in mitigation work and infrastructure support to keep them secure.
"Nobody's helping," Coyne said. "We do not have the ability to fund this alone and we have the least access to funding.
"I would therefore like to recommend that the federal gov create a national flood mitigation strategy with the funding allocated by risk and recovery, not population."
He also recommended that all levels of the government work together to create a program to fund the relocation of areas out of flood-prone areas in a fair and equitable way.
