Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise in support of this motion. I would like to thank the mover and seconder of the motion for bringing it forward. I feel that we have long needed an improvement in the provisions across the NWT for emergency services on our highways. We have been making do and we've been doing things a bit piecemeal. We have provided a small amount of money but it's not nearly enough, and it's time we look seriously at what is required and put in place a system that is going to provide the services that are required.

I've advocated in this House many times since I've been here, on behalf of my community, for increased funding to cover the costs of the Yellowknife fire department, who regularly acts in response to an emergency outside of the city limits. It may be down the highway, it may be out on the Ingraham Trail, but they are very often called out to fires or traffic emergencies. There are also emergencies that happen in the wintertime with ice and people falling through ice on lakes and so on. It's definitely a need within my community, and I recognize that all the other communities that are on the highway system feel a responsibility to respond to an emergency that is outside their municipal boundaries but is on a highway that goes through their community.

As our territory grows we are going to add more and more highways to our system. As we do that, we as a government have to consider the safety of our residents. We're going to have more people on highways. We're going to have more people at risk in the remote areas, as people have already mentioned. As a government, I think we have to recognize that need for increased emergency services and we have to seriously look at what we have and don't have, and that there is a need for us to provide greater emergency services.

Some investigative work was done a number of years ago. The departments of Health and Social Services and MACA got together and they looked at providing an emergency service program across the NWT. That work was stopped pretty quickly when they ran up against a fairly large bill in terms of setting this in place and funding. I think it's important that we have to start that work again. The cost may seem to be prohibitive, but there are ways of doing it. We can start minimally and work our way up. I think the government must investigate, as this motion requests. The government must look at the funding that is required, and that we, as a government, have to find a way, government and Regular Members have to find a way to find that funding and put the services in place that are required. I urge all my colleagues to vote in support of this motion. It is something we need.