Thank you. I have nothing to contradict what the Member has said. It is the intent of this department to suggest ways, along with other Members of the Cabinet, to maximize returns on money spent by this government on forest fires to northern communities and businesses. This is currently being discussed. We are going
to try to find ways to do that over the next few years, in terms of contracting local companies for aircraft.
There is some aircraft that is not available except from a few, select companies at this time, so we are using them. There have been similar expressions made by people in the valley, that for the millions of dollars we spend on aircraft, why don't we pay people outright to fly out in large numbers and fight fires the way they used to in the 1940s and 1950s. I know that some of the Dene have expressed that view. They say that we spend $10 million on fires and they all get away on us anyway and that we might as well pay them for fighting some of them, since your aircraft can't put them out any better than I can.
I don't argue with that. I know that we try to put out fires as quickly as we can, but during some days -- for example in the Sahtu last year -- there were 50 fires starting up in the span of a few hours. You can't fight them all. You decide to go to one 20 miles away and it takes off on you. In some cases, you can't do anything but let them go.
The Member should know that departments place priorities on caribou ranges and make sure fires are fought as far as 200 to 300 kilometres outside of communities to ensure the ranges are given some protection. Thank you.