B.C. minister says Ottawa is missing from the table on flood mitigation planning

By Canadian Press on February 4, 2026.

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 held a press conference this morning on Parliament Hill, where she called on the federal government to commit to working with local authorities.

Green 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.

Greene, Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens and Sumas First Nation Chief Dalton Silver are expected to meet 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.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press