B.C. minister says Ottawa is missing from the table on flood mitigation planning
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OTTAWA – British Columbia’s minister of emergency management is accusing the federal government of being absent from flood mitigation planning meetings following two major flooding events in her province in the last five years.
Kelly Greene called on the federal government to commit to working with local authorities at a news conference on Parliament Hill Wednesday.
“We are making progress, but we need the federal government to commit to being with us at the table as we finalize what will be the best way to move forward together in reducing flood risk in the area,” Greene said.
She said it was premature to place a dollar figure on how much money they’d need from Ottawa.
Greene said the problems of flood mitigation are too large and complex for local authorities to manage without federal help to identify critical infrastructure and fish habitat improvements, which she said would help reduce flood risk in the area.
“We’d really like to have them join us at the table. Their voice has been absent. We’d really like to have them there as we work in partnership as we work towards the next phase.”
Greene said the most Ottawa has put forward has been a “federal observer” for a single meeting of the Sumas flood mitigation table, which works together to identify solutions and present studies and modelling.
“Having elected representatives sitting at the table is critically important in understanding the necessity and scope of the work that’s required, and be able to work together to actually deliver results,” Greene said.
“We need to deliver results for the Sumas area. We cannot afford to cut our ports off from the rest of Canada when we’re talking about diversifying our economy.”
Greene, Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens and Sumas First Nation Chief Dalton Silver were expected to meet Wednesday with federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski and Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson.
B.C.’s Fraser Valley was hit with extensive flooding in December, which Siemens blamed in part on a lack of federal attention to flooding that caused massive damage in 2021.
Greene says the Fraser Valley’s Sumas Prairie is important for food security and to the national economy as a transportation corridor, particularly during a time of trade uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2026.
— With files from Wolfgang Depner in Victoria