Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Dr. Kelly.

Thank you, Dr. Kelly. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I'm looking at Fort McMurray, I was down there; I saw what happened, how quickly it can change. It's very scary, and how fires do amazing things. I saw trailers not touched where houses were burnt on both sides and back and front.

So can the department or the Minister provide us some assurances that the department will work with the communities to find some money to help put these firebreaks in place so that we can make these safer communities? We're living in an environment where a lot of our communities do not have the equipment necessary. Even in Fort McMurray they had the oil sands there and you saw what happened there. So is the Minister able to, maybe not do it this year in this year's budget, but start working towards it so these communities are safer? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair we can commit to working with the community with the resources that they do have. As Dr. Kelly said, when there is an emerging fire or if there is an emergency situation then ENR would work with them to complete a firebreak, but we will continue to work with the communities.

I think the Member's question may be is: does ENR have the funding to do it, and we don't at this time, to do firebreaks, but we do work with the communities that do have money at their disposal to complete firebreaks? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that answer, that's good to hear. I guess my big concern is that the department does a great job being reactionary, and I give them full credit to it, I'm hoping that the department will start looking at this as being a preventative way of making these communities safe.

In my riding, we live in very treed areas and sometimes the communities are totally engulfed in the trees. I would hope that the Minister can work with the department and get them to start looking at a proactive approach, a plan in place to address this concern in the communities in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We work with the communities on their plans and we have the expertise within our forest management division to help them identify combustible areas so we work with them on a plan and then the community will take the responsibility of trying to do some mitigation. In the event of a fire that's threatening the community, I think you've seen, it's been demonstrated in the past, that ENR does do what it can to try and help save the communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess I'm just looking at springtime when the fire crews are ready to go and there are no fires, it is a perfect opportunity to utilize that staff in the communities and surrounding areas to maybe potentially fire smart their communities to start with. So that's where I'm looking is existing staff that are not fighting fires presently, and I believe each community does have a fire suppressant crew that could potentially be put to work in the short term to start helping them.

I appreciate the department working with the communities and working on the plans, but here's an opportunity again to be pro-active with the staff there. So this is what I'm trying to hopefully look for. That will be my last comment on this matter. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Member's point is taken. As I said before, we do work with the communities, and then communities and others take responsibility for the fire. If it's threatening their area again, ENR I think has demonstrated in the past that they will step up to the plate when it's needed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just have a couple of questions for the Minister on fire suppression. This is fire suppression for the wildland fires. I know that we have a MARS agreement with other jurisdictions, but I would like to ask the Minister if he could commit to ensuring that all of the trained firefighters and extra firefighters in the NWT are utilized before we enact any agreement with another jurisdiction? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can commit to that. My understanding is that we do that already, but I will commit to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Any further questions? Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Further to forest fire safety, and I know that my colleague from Nahendeh had some questions around FireSmart, I have, of course, in the riding of Yellowknife North, the Ingraham Trail, and, as we are aware, last year there was the rather large Reid Lake fire, if that is what it is referred to as. Then we had one in the early season, very close to the roadway, right around Madeline Lake.

So, from that, of course, have come two primary concerns, and those are obviously the protection of assets, but probably arguably more importantly is the matter of communications, especially on that particular roadway and having the number of residents that live out there. Yesterday, I raised this point with the Department of MACA, and I know there are a bunch of interdepartmental responsibilities when it comes to public safety and forest fire management, but what steps or what undertakings is this department taking as it relates to an effort to improve communications for residents that are living out -- in this instance, I will use living directly out on the Ingraham Trail? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Dr. Kelly.

Thank you, Dr. Kelly. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is good to know. I think one of the things that is problematic for some folks is them understanding who actually is the lead on communications. It seemed to be that, in a couple of the instances last year -- in particular I will use the Madeline Lake instance where there was a temporary closure of the highway -- that between the Department of Transportation, between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and between the Department of MACA that even myself, as an MLA, was a little bit confused on where the direction or update of information was coming from.

So, if we can acknowledge that that is a concern and that that is something that we have to work toward, I would make that a recommendation, that we have to have a primary source of communications for the public on these safety matters relating to forest fires. Thank you, Mr. Chair.