Hello, everyone.

I would just like to start by thanking you, Amy and Dane, for the immense knowledge that you brought here today. I stand in solidarity with your messages.

I am Lindsey. I am a Jasper community member who has called Jasper home for close to seven years. I wish that I could be with you today in person so that we could look each other in the eyes and so that you could see in me the future, because I am the future, like your children and your grandchildren.

So far in this committee, various politicians have asked what we will do to protect other communities and how we will protect Canadians. I am here today to tell you one way that we can protect our future. The first step is putting aside the divisive politics and working together.

As our community grapples with the aftermath of this fire, there is a troubling narrative, one that points fingers at individuals, political leaders and governmental agencies. First and foremost, these divisive politics are harmful to Jasperites. As a resident myself and as someone with deep connections to those who actively fought the fire and are working tirelessly on recovery efforts now, my message is that Jasper needs support, not division. Please put the politics aside and allow Jasperites to recover. Listen to the on-the-ground expertise. Support those who are on the ground. That is the role of good leadership.

Second, beneath these surface-level discussions lies a much larger, more insidious truth. The wildfire that swept through our community is not an isolated event. It is the consequence of climate change, of colonial land-use practices and of a global system built on extraction and corporate gain at the cost of a livable planet.

The same competitive and cutthroat attitude with which we have treated the earth is present in our Parliament today. Why are we amplifying a culture of division, destruction and competition? We desperately need collaboration. The conversation around this fire has been misdirected. It has been convenient to focus on surface-level debates, like which party didn't allocate enough resources or what management plan could have been different. However, the root issue is not about one individual's mistake or a single policy misstep. Climate change is the outcome of a system that prioritizes short-term economic profit over long-term human and ecological health.

Wildfires, floods and droughts are all symptoms of a system that no longer serves life but only serves profit. My question is not what one governmental agency or one party is to do in a nearsighted time frame. My question is about what we are going to do to ensure that there's a future for young people. We don't want to live on a burning planet, but we are. I do not want to see my leadership point fingers and perpetuate divisive and polarizing arguments when I need you to work together to find solutions to climate change.

Here is my single recommendation. I implore you to acknowledge the severity of the climate crisis and to take an active role in being leaders to drive us to solutions. I believe you can do this. There is an overwhelming consensus through the largest peer-reviewed scientific process, the IPCC, which outlines why we must meet our international targets to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Please listen to the science.

This is to every person in Parliament, every political leader and every Canadian: Canada can be the leader of a system that prioritizes human well-being. We have the resources, the land, the culture and the people. With regard to climate change, we can adapt and show the world what an abundant system looks like. This is an exciting moment. I believe it is an inflection point in history, but business-as-usual will not work. You have an opportunity to be a leader, to be a leader of this change and to protect other communities like Jasper. However, that will require collaboration, and it will require a dedication to choose people's well-being over division. That needs to start right here in our Parliament.

Thank you very much.