Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I called attention to an active, successful and delicious northern industry, the morel mushroom harvest. As I’ve said before, this Deh Cho crop is prized by gourmet chefs across Canada and around the world. It also thrives in burned land. One positive outcome, at least, of last summer’s extensive fire season.

As you know, these fires affected more than three million hectares of land, including significant positions of the Deh Cho region, and demanded significant human, mechanical and financial resources. But, as with the morel mushrooms, last summer’s fires have also given us the opportunity to grow. For example, we can look at our communities’ wildland fire protection plans to identify where we can grow and improve. Last July Kakisa residents saw the importance of fire smarting firsthand. Thanks to the community’s readiness and the hard work of committed firefighting crews, no structures were lost when residents were forced to evacuate.

Other communities can follow their example when preparing for the upcoming season. While communities and families have an important role to play in forest fire readiness, we must not forget that they rely on the government for support, for program funding, for the development and protection plans and for other preventative measures.

Even today, in this cold winter, there are concerns of fires smouldering beneath the muskeg. Looking forward to the coming summer, we need to be ready. We must make sure our communities are as prepared as they can be to respond to a forest fire emergency.

Later today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources regarding emergency preparedness for summer fires. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.