Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The recent release of the long-awaited ENR 2014 Fire Season Review Report, had, as the Minister put it, girding their loins in preparation for this upcoming fire season. Now, although the use of cute biblical sarcasm is always welcome for the academics that pay attention, it unfortunately doesn’t offer much in the way of sustenance to what the people are expecting from spending over $56.1 million of their money.

Now, again for the record, we applaud that there was no loss of life or serious injury last year; and yes, the promise for better communication is nice to hear; and yes, the perception that there was meaningful consultation is welcome. However, the Members of this House and the public were promised, by its Minister, a document that was to have every i dotted and every t crossed, and for eight months we waited for a report that unfortunately fell bureaucratically short of expectation. In fact, where is the full cost accounting of the 56.1 million tax dollars that were spent? The Minister’s review report breaks down only three simple numbers and figures: aircraft, $24 million; personnel, $6.8 million; and other operational costs of $25.3 million. Well, very impressive, very transparent. Way to go Minister.

So, where is the breakdown of the personnel cost, both in-house and contracted services and within our MARS Agreement program? Where is the breakdown of money spent on our own air fleet, our visiting fleet through the MARS Agreement, and our contracted services of Buffalo Air fleet that spent the majority of early June 2014 sitting on the tarmac? Does the Minister not think we could see these planes from the road, sitting idle while NWT burned? Where’s the analysis of the efficiency of the aviation strategy of 2014? What worked? What didn’t work? Why did our air attack officers clock out at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday when homesteads burned on a Saturday? Did the Minister think MLAs wouldn’t find out?

We know we have issues and limitations with their Prometheus fire growth modelling program and that our science officers are working with outdated technology and, as I quote, “ENR recognizes it needs to develop better fire behaviour prediction tools.”

Okay, so where is the investment? Where is the budget? Where is the action plan?

We now have a public 2014 Fire Season Review Report with no specific investment, no timelines for significant changes, no true measurement tools and no real reporting mechanisms.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted