Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. I have on the list here Mr. Krutko, Mr. Picco, Mr. Steen and Mr. Henry. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Madam Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in situations where there is a potential flooding situation, the rivers are watched very carefully. This is certainly the case almost every spring in Hay River and also with the Salt River in the last few years. This was the case in Aklavik last spring when there was a potential flood situation there. In that case, certainly in advance of the situation, it is often from local knowledge that people have about how much snow there is and often what elders think is going to happen with the river in the spring. The local people are alerted. Our regional superintendent and staff are certainly alerted. Last year, for example, in Aklavik we were receiving almost daily reports from the regional superintendent as the river rose. It looked, as you know, very close at one point that it was, in fact, going to flood.

In specific answer to the question, yes, the flooding situations are always closely monitored. In terms of are they tested, the emergency measures sometimes do include things like mock disaster, and these do occur in some communities from time to time where there will be a mock disaster just to test how well the plan works. Sometimes these are done with an aircraft crash simulation or an accident simulation. They have proven to be very beneficial. So yes, those things do occur as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Emergency services, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The other day, last week or something, one of the Members asked what if there is snow in the doorway of the fire truck. That seemed to be what the Member was saying, it might not be the right words. The community has to take some responsibility in these everyday functions of their firehall and there is training that we give to the volunteers. The community should be monitoring some of the equipment and we assist them where we can. I will provide the Member, through the department, the training initiatives we do with the fire volunteers in the communities. The communities should take on some responsibilities. They are able to do that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Is there not a by-law making a community emergency plan a requirement, Madam Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We recommend that they do. Now regarding the Member's concerns how these fire trucks are assessed, there is an assistant fire marshall in the regions that trains the fire chief in the community. Then those two people assess the equipment. There are also foremen in those communities who can also assess the equipment and there are also the mechanics in the garages in all the communities that assess these things. In terms of a fire truck, we have regional assistant fire marshals that can be contacted if there is equipment that needs to be assessed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Mr. Krutko, your time is up for the time being. Mr. Picco.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to emergency services in Iqaluit, I understand that the federal government deals with this and (Translation ends) 28 new airports will be included under emergency services to get back their fire department. I am wondering, under emergency services, has MACA been aware of this announcement and does that also include the Iqaluit airport?

Thank you. Ms. Ballantyne.

Mr. Chairman, I am just looking at the federal Transport Canada news release on this item and I see a list of airports required to provide aircraft firefighting service. Yellowknife is on this list. I do not see any other NWT airport.

Thank you, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand that the regulations have included the busiest airports in Canada and also all capital cities in Canada, the provinces and the territories. As we know, Iqaluit will be the capital of the new territory of Nunavut. Can the department inquire with the federal authorities, indeed, to see if Iqaluit would be included under ERS because of that reason? I also note that in the National Airport Systems book put out by Transport Canada, they say in that book, I have showed a copy to the Minister for Transportation, that indeed, the capital of Nunavut should be included in the National Airport Systems. I think from that, they should have the emergency response services. This area came up last year with the cooperation of MACA. Our fire department in Iqaluit received extra training to be able to respond to any type of emergency or incident at the airport, but we still do not have the dedicated ERS service, and I think it is still a concern. I know there is a working committee on the town council who are looking at this. I am wondering if the department can follow up on that for me.

Thank you. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There may have been a lot of responsibilities transferred to my department, but transportation has still not been transferred over. I will refer the concern of the Member to the Minister of Transportation of airports. Thank you.

Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I realize that the airports themselves are under the Department of Transportation, but emergency services, such as the response of the fire department, is under MACA. We do not have any emergency services and that is why I am addressing the question to MACA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Do you want to respond, Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will have to work with my partner again on this, my partner from Transportation, and get back to the Member as soon as I can. Thank you.