Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the service offered to northerners over the past 25 years by a dedicated group of volunteers, the St. John Ambulance Council of the Northwest Territories. The Council is celebrating its 25th anniversary. St. John is the oldest charity in the world. It began in Jerusalem almost 1,000 years ago. The organization reached Canada in 1882. At that time, high accident rates among construction, mining, forestry and railway workers meant there was a need for first aid training and followup after hospital treatment. In 1972, Commissioner Stu Hodgson said that the territories should have it own St. John Ambulance organization to meet the growing need for first aid training in the north.
Since that time, the NWT St. John Ambulance Council has issued over 74,000 certificates to northerners qualifying them in health care, safety and emergency first aid. It provides instruction to over 3,500 hundred people in the NWT each year. Courses include first aid, babysitting, child care and home health care.
Last year, St. John volunteers logged 1,400 hours covering events such as the Caribou Carnival, Dry Grad functions, Canada Day events and the Folk on the Rocks Festival in Yellowknife. Over the years, this organization has made efforts to provide services that meet the special needs of the Northwest Territories. St. John has translated its training materials into aboriginal languages and has an Aboriginal Instructor Qualification Program. This program is credited with training 5,000 northerners in health care and first aid. St. John has placed survival material along travel routes in the High Arctic. These materials are available to anyone who needs them while out on the land. For ten years, St. John operated the air medevac service in the western Arctic.
Mr. Speaker, the members of St. John Ambulance provide these services because they see a need in their communities. They are working to improve the quality of life for all northern people through training and first aid service. I would like to congratulate them on their first 25 years in the Northwest Territories and wish them the best in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause