C-317National Strategy on Flood and Drought Forecasting Act
An Act to establish a national strategy respecting flood and drought forecasting
Private member's bill, introduced in the House of Commons on March 8, 2023
- Status
- Defeated at second reading in the Senate
What it does
Requires the federal government to develop a national strategy for flood and drought forecasting and report it to Parliament.
What it does
- Requires the Minister of the Environment, with several other federal ministers, to develop a national strategy on flood and drought forecasting.
- Requires consultations with provincial and municipal governments, Indigenous governing bodies, universities, civil society groups, and industry, including the insurance industry.
- Requires the strategy to assess national coordination, new investment, and new technology for flood and drought forecasting.
- Requires the strategy to look at flood risk modelling and at ways to build a national forecasting service and system across Canada.
- Requires the Minister to table the strategy in Parliament within two years, publish it online, and later report on how well the strategy worked.
Who it affects
- Federal ministers
- Provincial governments
- Municipal governments
- Indigenous governing bodies
- Universities
- Civil society groups
- Insurance industry
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Completed.
Committee
Completed.
Report stage
Completed.
Third reading
Completed.
Senate
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Defeated here. Defeated
Committee
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Royal assent
Royal assent
Not reached.
Introduced by an MP who is not a minister. These bills compete in a lottery for debate time, and most do not become law. How a bill becomes law
How the House voted
3rd reading and adoption of Bill C-317, An Act to establish a national strategy respecting flood and drought forecasting
Vote 801,
Passed
313 yeato0 nay · 12 paired
Party breakdown for vote 801 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 144 0 11 Conservative Yea 113 0 5 Bloc Yea 30 0 2 NDP Yea 21 0 3 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 3 0 0 Total 313 0 2nd reading of Bill C-317, An Act to establish a national strategy respecting flood and drought forecasting
Vote 643,
Passed
325 yeato0 nay · 2 paired
Party breakdown for vote 643 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 151 0 5 Conservative Yea 114 0 3 Bloc Yea 31 0 1 NDP Yea 24 0 1 Green Yea 2 0 0 Independent Yea 3 0 0 Total 325 0
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalFrancis Scarpaleggia· November 24, 2023
“I believe that a key role of a legislator, especially when society is faced with a growing multiplicity of challenges, many of which require recourse to science to solve, is to act as a conduit, in essence a conduit for bringing the science that resides in our universities and other research entities, including government departments, into the realm of actionable public policy.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeMichael Kram· November 24, 2023
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Bill C-317, an act to establish a national strategy respecting flood and drought forecasting. I would like to thank my colleague, the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Louis, for introducing this bill.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocMonique Pauzé· November 24, 2023
“I too want to thank my colleague from Lac-Saint-Louis for introducing this bill. I also thank him for his environmental convictions and his great patience as chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caNDPRichard Cannings· November 24, 2023
“Today we are speaking to Bill C-317, a private member's bill from the member for Lac-Saint-Louis. This bill asks the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, in consultation with the provinces, indigenous governments and municipal governments, to develop a national strategy for flood and drought forecasting.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: At second reading in the Senate. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.