Ronald Bonnetrouge

Thank you, Madam Chair. I note that the Deh Cho bridge repair work is not listed in here. It's I think it's probably repair work but that's the one dealing with the cable failure. I'm just wondering if it's a bigger it's a bigger task than originally expected, if they have to bring in an expert from the United Kingdom, and what's the projected estimated cost to repair that project and what's the timeline? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. Yeah, I just thought maybe ITI was on top of everything that they do, especially having to do with fisheries as they're promoting fisheries around the plant around the lake I should say, so. Because I'm wondering, you know, people start initiatives and then it just dies, you know, just like on the order papers or something. So I thought ITI would be more, you know because I'll be asking those questions. I guess I'll be sending an email so that we keep everybody accountable. We're spending public dollars and, you know, we should know what's happening with it, and the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi to the Minister for that. I believe that many of the fire breaks that he speaks of are a bit not wide enough to prevent fires from entering the communities.

Mr. Speaker, failing to have any set standards to determine proper and safe fire breaks for communities in the Northwest Territories, will the department work to develop acceptable standards of fire breaks to protect communities? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for ECC minister related to my Member's statement regarding fire breaks. Can the Minister advise if the department has standards and layouts to develop fire breaks to communities in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Regarding the fire breaks, you know, the wider the fire break and when you get rid of the topsoil, as most communities are starting to chip, using a chipper to chip away and do FireSmarting so that fire that chipping there, that's wood chips, and that's fuel, that adds fuel to the fire. So I don't know if that's a real good idea if the department is advising communities to do that. So even their fireguards, you know, they need to be a set standard because they will protect communities. If we're not doing anything, well we're leaving it up in the air for next fire season...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for that answer. Has the department completed an assessment of what each community has for fire breaks and if they are currently compatible with any standards for such? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every year we are at the mercy of the Mother Nature as we face one disaster after another. One moment we have floods and then the next we have wildfires. What we know and have experienced is that these disasters are as unpredictable as to when they will strike.

Mr. Speaker, we may not prevent or predict all natural disasters, but perhaps we can be proactive to prevent most. I believe the department of ECC promotes fire breaks around communities and FireSmarting within communities.

It is shown that fire breaks around the perimeter of the community can prevent...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister. Mr. Speaker, we hear of a couple of brothers from Enterprise, along with other volunteers, putting out fires that were continually flaring up throughout the community of Enterprise after the initial wildfire. They note that there were no ECC fire crews for more than five days to assist and this was well after the main fire tore through the hamlet.

Can the Minister apprise this House as to why no fire crews were available in the community to monitor and fight the fires? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for the all the information that they were fighting the fires prior to. And it's kind of confusing because the fires kind of snuck up to the community on that day, you know, after all the Department of ECC and fire management help have all the necessary tools and information at their fingertips to determine whether wind and wind speed, yet these systems seemed to have failed on that day or just prior to that day.

Can the Minister apprise this House as to why these factors and tools were not taken into account prior to the devastating day? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the recent wildfires will be etched in everyone's minds for quite some time. Three of the largest centres in the Northwest Territories were affected with evacuation orders: Fort Smith which includes Smith's Landing First Nation; Hay River; Yellowknife, which includes Dettah and N'dilo. Equally affected were my riding communities of K'atlodeeche, Enterprise, and Kakisa. This is the largest evacuation order, ever, of residents, due to wildfires. Hay River and K'atlodeeche had faced evacuations back in May due to a large, fast moving wildfire not seen previously...