Vince McKay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I guess that's the good thing about this third party independent after-action review, is that it brought out all these things. It brought out the -- you know, some of the issues that we were having, including this one that was raised. Yes, we are looking at making these changes in the Emergency Management Act. This is all part of the after-action review. You know, the whole point of this is clarifying our roles and responsibilities. You know, I guess after that, in 2023, having been part of it, you know, I understand the confusion and everything else that was there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current structure already separates from the political side. The decisions are all made within the ICS system, and when it comes down to a Minister making a decision, it's through the legislation on what type of decision that may be. So sometimes it's signing off on an emergency evacuation order that a local state of emergency that has been declared. So it's not the Minister making the decision; it's following the recommendations of the trained staff. So basically the Minister's role is limited to making statutory declarations if a local state of emergency or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the Member, and I agree with his concerns. Again, I will work with the Member to work with the department and see what we can do to find a path forward to make sure that it's corrected and repaired properly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, this is definitely an area of concern. It's been brought up many times, obviously. This is one that's definitely been a hot radar topic area. So they've done a lot of work on it. But, obviously, during this time of year when it's raining as bad as it is, it shows that it's getting a little slushy and mucky. So the department has reached out to the contractor to do some work on it. Obviously, we can easily -- we can obviously easily say it's going to go away as soon as it freezes and the snow fills everything in. But you're right, when the spring comes around, we're...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like any small community, you know, volunteerism is very important. And I hope that members of the community would step up -- and I know there has been recently -- to establish their local fire department and maybe take on roles of responding to other emergencies. However, when it comes to talking about paramedics, that's a field, a detailed line of work that is similar to being a nurse or a doctor. You know, that's a different type of qualifications. It falls under department of health. But when it comes down to emergency response in the communities and first...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the fine detail that he likes or would want, I will get back to him with that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So when it comes down to having our own department essentially for emergency management, we have the services available, we have the opportunity to do emergency management, operate emergencies under our current operating system. And what I would say is when I first ran for MLA, one of the things that I was saying through the whole thing is, you know, I believe in fine tuning in what we have. I believe in fine tuning on what we do. And this is exactly my point is that we have the staff, we have the personnel, we have the ability, and we've also had to, you know, also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, so I know we've been trying to get into the Sahtu, and I committed to going to the Sahtu. We have plans, I believe, in the new year to try to go there because I think we'd like to get up there and not only go and meet about the barging season but also see the winter road and see how it is.

So I am committed to meeting with the residents of the Sahtu for the barging and anything else that we need to talk about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. So when it comes down to the training and the development, working with the communities at the all the levels, the local level, the regional level, you know, we're working with the community governments to make sure that the things are in place to help out these residents. A lot of the problems that we've seen even just recently are not really related to the government. It's related to circumventing the process, and it's been a very frustrating thing for me to even see because we have the resources in place, we have the opportunities in place, to assist with the...