Thank you. Emergency services. I will recognize, Mr. Steen.
Debates of Feb. 5th, 1998
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
Vince Steen Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my first question is to follow up to the honourable Member from Iqaluit, Mr. Picco. I would like to know if the local fire departments are trained to respond to aircraft crashes at the airport.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Madam Minister.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Manitok Thompson Aivilik
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe my deputy minister has the answer for that. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. On the office of the fire marshall, Madam Ballantyne.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Ballantyne
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my understanding is that although the local fire department is trained to secure the site at the site of a crash, actually fighting the fire itself is not something that is within their training. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
Vince Steen Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I was not referring so much to a fire. In many cases aircraft accidents do not involve fire. I was referring to personnel, passengers and pilots. Who would be responsible for implementing the emergency measures in that case?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, Madam Minister.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
Manitok Thompson Aivilik
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can I have the Member clarify or elaborate more on his questioning?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen, would you like to repeat or use an example. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman, if I could use an example. Before airports were transferred from transportation to the hamlets, there were emergency plans in place at the airport, even though there was no crash standby crew. The airport manager, the equipment operators and the mechanics were involved in training to respond to a crash. There was equipment at these airports as well, in the form of stretchers or whatever was needed. I am just wondering now, who has all that responsibility been passed on to?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Madam Minister.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Manitok Thompson Aivilik
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will ask my ADM to answer that, Mr. Vern Christensen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Christensen
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When the Department of Transportation removed their emergency response services at airports other than the 28 largest airports in Canada, the response to that was that the community emergency response plans were modified to recognize the fact that the service was no longer being provided. The response plans themselves are focused mainly on securing the scene as opposed to responding to the crash itself. Beyond that there were no other accommodations to deal with that contingency.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
Vince Steen Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I think it is a recognized fact that fighting fires involving high octane fuel is a specialized trade. The federal Department of Transportation used to supply training to airport staff for this particular service. I am wondering if there is any type of training given to the fire departments whereby they have the ability to fight high octane fires?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Madam Chair.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
Manitok Thompson Aivilik
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I am going to ask Mr. Vern Christensen again, to answer this question.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Assistant Deputy Minister.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 602
Christensen
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not aware of any specific training that is being provided to local fire brigades to fight high octane fuel fires. There may be expertise available to be called upon, but my recollection is that we have not been providing that kind of training. It is interesting to note that the federal Department of Transportation is looking at the rescue requirements at small airports and the emergency response planning in small airports. There are two, what they call stakeholder groups, that they have established to examine those issues in particular. Both Municipal and Community Affairs and Department of Transportation are represented on those stakeholder groups, so these are issues, I believe,
under some active consideration from a federal/provincial perspective. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 603
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Steen.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 603
Vince Steen Nunakput
Mr. Chairman. I would like to point out that when Transportation transferred airports to the municipalities they did, in fact, transfer some emergency response equipment including fire trucks. Some of those fire trucks were, in fact, foam-equipped fire trucks. They had the capability to be both foam and dry chemical. I understand that in most communities which took over the firefighting equipment, they are now using these particular fire trucks for transportation and because of this the dry chemical in the container gets so compacted from vibration on the road that it is completely useless. Therefore the communities take out those dry chemical things and remove them from the trucks because, in fact, they are useless. I address this as a concern. The equipment was passed on but there was no incentive to pass on training to these people as well. Simply transferring airports does not necessarily mean that the staff available before went along with the transfer. In some communities there is firefighting equipment there but nobody who knows how to run it.
Mr. Chairman, before my time is up, I would like to know at what level MACA is involved in search and rescue? I have always understood that in the communities this was normally hunters and trappers, the rangers or the RCMP who were involved in this. It suggests here that MACA is involved in search and rescue. Could I get some explanation of exactly what level of search and rescue?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 603
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Madam Minister.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 603
Manitok Thompson Aivilik
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. MACA's role in search and rescue is to support the establishment and training of a local search team. MACA works with the communities to establish search and rescue as a complement of the local emergency response plan establishing a search team, developing search and rescue procedures. This allows a trained group of searchers to conduct either a public or community organized search. MACA's role in this is to support the establishment and training of local search teams. Thank you.