Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to speak on an issue that my colleague, Mr. David Krutko, spoke on today and which Mr. Paul Delorey and Mr. Steve Nitah spoke on last week. It is on the issue of community firefighting volunteers and the government's efforts to support the valuable work that they provide for our communities.

Mr. Speaker, the Legislative Assembly, in its document, Towards A Better Tomorrow, laid out a vision that the Members of this House wish to pursue. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, in support of this vision, developed seven goals, one of which is to reduce death, injury and property loss from fire. In its main estimates for the current year, MACA states that protecting the lives and property of all Northerners is a priority for MACA. MACA goes on to state that the department will also continue to build capacity through the Northwest Territories fire training plan.

Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, MACA is responsible for the office of the fire marshal, an office that enforces the Fire Prevention Act and regulations, as well as setting training standards and supporting the training of community firefighters.

Mr. Speaker, upon review of the main estimates published by MACA, I have noticed that the main estimates show a decrease in budgeted funding levels for the office of the fire marshal from $449,000 to $326,000 for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2001 to the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2002. This is a decrease of $123,000. The same main estimates show a decrease in the budgeted fire training allocations from $120,000 to $90,000 over the course of the last two years.

Mr. Speaker, I fail to see how MACA can state that, on one hand, the protecting of lives and property for all Northerners is a priority for MACA, while at the same time it slashes the budget for that very activity. Mr. Speaker, there have been recent media reports in The Deh Cho Drum that have highlighted concerns in the Deh Cho communities over the resources given to community firefighters. Although these concerns focus primarily on the recruitment and retention of firefighters, they also relate to equipment and training.

I do not have direct knowledge of the situations in other Members' constituencies. I presume these issues apply across the North. Mr. Speaker, I suggest that these concerns over service levels and resources are directly linked to these budgetary cuts and lack of attention being paid by this government to critical services for our communities.

Mr. McLeod, your time for your Member's statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is critical that this government gives sufficient resources to our community firefighters to do the job right. Linkages between resources for volunteer firefighters and the lives that have been lost in our smaller communities is simply too direct for us to ignore.

Cutting budgets and essential safety services that can affect our small communities in such a tragic way is of no economy, at all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.