Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was hoping this government would be the one that would dictate the budget we need. We all know we need the training for our firefighters and that our expectation for the firefighters to have people who can do the job and have the training and also have the tools and equipment to do it is important.

The one thing we see, especially communities that are on the highway systems, we feel they are the ones that have to respond to emergencies on our highways. They are also the ones that have to deal with different types of circumstances, such as accidents and not only fighting fires. I think it is important that we have people trained in different areas of first aid; CPR, different courses regarding H2S, different types of dangerous chemicals and gases that are going past our communities, so they can react to an emergency or an incident on the highway system. You have these people equipped with the training so when they respond to a fire, they know what type of fire they are going to have to react to. Through the training, they have the assurance that they have the best training around and they will be able to do the job to the best of their ability.

I would like to ask the Minister, are we looking at expanding the training that is presently being given to ensure that we cover those other areas, knowing that there is all this activity around us, especially in regard to the different chemicals and contaminants that are flowing through our communities and up and down our highway systems? Also, regarding the different types of materials that are now being used in our communities, what exactly has been done to expand the training that is presently being provided so they can acquire more certification and training in different areas?