Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 15 of our community fire fighters and GNWT assistant fire marshals have been training to receive professional certification as firefighters or fire fighter instructors. I am pleased to announce that they have now completed, or will shortly complete, this training and will be certified by the National Fire Protection Association. As Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, I would like to congratulate these fire fighters on their success.
Mr. Speaker, it took these people three years of hard work and personal sacrifice to do this. Several of these people will now form a core team of fire fighter instructors who can deliver training programs to community fire departments here in the North. The rest of them will be able to take the new skills they have learned back to fire departments in their communities. This will help improve fire protection services in communities across the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, if I may take a moment, I would like to talk about how this training program was developed. The emergency services division of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs partnered with the Alberta Fire Training School to deliver facility-centred and community-centred training that will work in the North.
Through this partnership, the department trains personnel to nationally recognized fire fighter and instructor standards. This will provide a core of professional fire fighters in community fire departments. Instructors certified through this process will be able to conduct additional training throughout the NWT. This program has been designed so it can be delivered in the most remote location.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is committed to protecting the safety of all NWT residents. Helping community fire departments and fire fighters receive professional training will help us reach that goal. Today at 6:00 p.m. in the Great Hall, we will have a ceremony to recognize the 15 fire fighters who have recently received training. I hope you will all join me this evening to honour these people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause