Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thousands of our residents and visitors enjoy the parks and campgrounds across the territory. In particular, the beaches located within the territorial parks contribute enormously to the quality of life for many families on hot summer days.
The 2014 parks season formally opens on May 15th and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is making important changes to beaches in Fred Henne Territorial Park and Hay River Territorial Park that I want to share with you. These changes will help to ensure everyone enjoys the beaches in a fun, safe way.
This past summer the department contracted the Lifesaving Society of Alberta and the NWT to perform aquatic safety audits on the unsupervised waterfront beachesat both territorial parks. The Lifesaving Society is a charitable organization working to prevent drowning and water-related injury. The purpose of these audits was to analyze and provide recommendations to maximize the safety of beach users.
The Lifesaving Society has made a number of recommendations they have told us will make the beaches safer. ITI is putting all of these recommendations in place that will move the beaches up in the level of safety. They include easy-to-read signage alerting parents, guardians and other beachgoers about beach rules and hazards. Providing emergency equipment such as a reaching pole and throwing assist was also a direct safety recommendation. We will ensure those are available, and we will post emergency contact numbers.
Madam Speaker, a main focus of the recommendations is on public education. We will be engaging with our partners in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Transportation, and Health and Social Services to plan a territory-wide water and beach safety campaign, through the Injury Prevention Working
Group, to help ensure beachgoers are prepared to use and enjoy their beaches safely.
The Lifesaving Society has repeatedly stressed the importance of direct and constant supervision for children at the beachfront and in the water. We are making public awareness a major focus of this safety campaign.
In addition, the department is contracting the Lifesaving Society to deliver basic training in basic waterfront and local emergency procedures. This will be provided to park staff at Fred Henne and Hay River territorial parks. In the event of an emergency, parks staff could provide assistance until fire or ambulance crews arrive on scene. Programs and training can be customized to suit the waterfront and staff comfort level.
These plans are in addition to the lifejacket loaner station that was installed at the Fred Henne beach last summer, and we will install another at the Hay River beach during the 2014 parks season.
Madam Speaker, in addition to these safety audits, we also contracted the Lifesaving Society to do a study on what would be required to put lifeguards on Fred Henne beach. We expect to receive the report very soon and I look forward to reading it and sharing this information.
Throughout this process, the department has encouraged feedback and comments from NWT residents, and I want to thank people who have taken the time to comment and share their concerns and suggestions. We want to hear their feedback on these safety measures and to ask questions about these recommendations.
Our on-line survey about beach safety at Fred Henne has been available for a few weeks now and we have already had over 300 responses. I would encourage people to visit the ITI website to complete this survey and give us your feedback as it will be closing at the end of this week.
In addition, we are holding a facilitated public forum in Yellowknife tonight at the Yellowknife Ski Club at 6:00 p.m. We want to talk to people about the Lifesaving Society’s safety recommendations, current safety issues at the beach, and potential ideas and solutions to addressing these issues. We will work in small groups to ensure all ideas are taken into account.
Another forum is scheduled in Hay River in early March. We will be able to confirm the date with you shortly.
Madam Speaker, safety at the beach is everyone’s responsibility. By putting these safety measures in place as recommended by the Lifesaving Society, we hope even more residents – especially families – will come and experience the natural, spectacular beach facilities we have right here in our backyard. Thank you, Madam Speaker.