As a City Council, listening to our residents and businesses is fundamentally important when it comes to our decision making and planning for the future.
And as we head into the first few months of 2026, we’ve once again begun hearing from farmers and business owners affected by the most recent flooding event on the Sumas Prairie in December 2025. They were the ones on the front lines during this latest climate disaster, and through emails and private conversations they have shared with us what they’ve been through and what they think should be done to mitigate flooding and keep farms and businesses safe.
Recently, Mayor Siemens was joined by City Manager Peter Sparanese at a roundtable event in Abbotsford convened by the BC Dairy and BC Poultry Associations. The roundtable brought together affected animal producers and government officials to discuss some of the impacts of the flood, the government’s response, and needs for the future. Attendees included BC Minister of Agriculture and Food Lana Popham and BC Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Kelly Greene, and their staff, as well as representatives from the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and Public Safety Canada.
The Mayor heard from many producers who described the mental, physical and financial stress caused by the flood — many for the second time as they were also impacted in 2021 — as well as the challenges of applying for provincial disaster relief due to time limits and eligibility restrictions, and their frustration with a lack of substantial tangible flood mitigation action.
These producers are passionate about their work as provincial food suppliers, however some expressed that the uncertainty and risk of flooding make it difficult for them to want to expand their operations or even stay in Abbotsford. This firsthand meeting was a valuable opportunity to hear directly from our animal producers, and we look forward to continuing to dialogue and hear from additional impacted parties going forward.
This week, Mayor Siemens is in Ottawa, where he, Minister Greene and Semá:th First Nation Chief Dalton Silver will be meeting with federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Gregor Robertson and federal Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience Eleanor Olszewski to discuss some of the ongoing challenges that our community, business owners and farmers are continuing to face due to the lack of federal government support for flood mitigation measures.
As the animal producers pointed out during the roundtable: this is not just an issue for farmers. It’s not even just an issue for Abbotsford. When Sumas Prairie floods and Highway 1 is closed, the impact to food security, transportation and Asia-Pacific gateway trade is felt at the provincial and national levels.
At a time when the Prime Minister talks often about the importance of national infrastructure and self-sufficiency, we are hopeful the federal government will be able to demonstrate that they also recognize the national significance of this issue when the Mayor meets with the ministers this week.
Abbotsford City Council