Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we did send a letter to ECCC with our planned approach to carbon pricing, and we also told them that we do not intend to use their backstop. So we will be having discussions going forward, and, when we are in a position to, we will release the results of our findings.

I would like to thank the Minister for that information. He did not answer the last part of my question, whether he was willing to table that letter in the House without delay, so I would like to repeat that question.

I will be making it available to the public, including tabling. I can table the letter, but what I need to do before that, out of respect for a consensus system, is share. We have a briefing with committee, and I want to give committee an update before I am in a position to release anything publicly.

I look forward to the briefing and getting the letter tabled so that we can tell the public what is going on. Our government apparently participated with federal government experts to prepare some sort of a study on the impacts of carbon pricing on the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister tell us whether that study has been completed and, if so, when it will be publicly released?

Mr. Speaker, there was a lot of work that went on on carbon pricing since the federal government came up with the initiative to implement carbon pricing, whether it was welcome or not. Our challenge was to do a lot of work, a lot of background work, to see what the effect would be on the people of the Northwest Territories and try to mitigate the effect on the people of the Northwest Territories. I think we have come up with a fairly good proposal in doing that. That is why we told the federal government that we will not be using their backstop. We did some numbers using their backstop, and it was going to add on to, significantly, the cost of living in the Northwest Territories. We have a product that is made in the North, by Northerners, and I think it will be well received by Northerners. Because the carbon pricing was going to be implemented with or without our participation, our challenge was to mitigate the impact it was going to have on Northerners.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to thank the Minister for that response, but he did not answer the question, again. This study that was done in collaboration with federal government experts on the impacts on the Northwest Territories of carbon pricing, is it done, and, if so, can he share it publicly?

I will share anything publicly, but, out of respect for the consensus system, I need to share the information with committee first, because we have seen what happens if we somehow release some information to the public before we get it to committee. So, once we have the discussion with committee and we have our discussion with Ottawa, I will be more than happy to release anything publicly so people out there can realize and know what a great job that the officials within the Government of the Northwest Territories did mitigating the impacts of carbon pricing on the people of Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, about two years ago, the Auditor General of Canada tabled his report entitled "Support for Communities for Municipal Services in the Northwest Territories." That report was basically highlighting 13 recommendations. The critical piece of the report was that MACA did not adequately help communities. In the case in Fort Providence, where we have a community volunteer fire department, what role does MACA have in supporting and establishing and maintaining a local fire department? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Coming out of that report, there were some highlights, and MACA will continue to work with the key partners as well as our hamlets to develop and maintain the fire protection services for Northwest Territories communities. With that said, I just want to say that, as the Member made congratulations to his volunteer firefighters in his community, I want to thank all the volunteers across the Northwest Territories for their commitment to keeping our communities safe.

We have also done a creative assessment tool across the Northwest Territories. Currently, we have 19 community fire department assessments that have been completed to date. It addresses what is working, what challenges there are, any inadequacies. With that, we are able to come up with a fire protection plan that identifies short- and long-term goals for the community. We will continue to put those assessment tools in place with all communities across the Northwest Territories and are willing to work with our hamlets and municipalities on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister stated that they will continue to work with hamlets. Of course, this is the Government of the Northwest Territories and this is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Who is responsible for fire protection services? Is it this government through MACA, or is it the local governments?

Right now, it is just the local governments that are responsible. We provide the support. We provide the training, as the Member alluded to in his Member's statement. From May 25^th to May 27^th, we had a Part I defensive-level firefighter course that took place. I believe there is going to be a follow-up coming in June. We continue to work with all our municipal governments to ensure that fire protection plans are in place for the community, and we do provide the supports.

We also have a community fire protection video as well as a presentation, which we have done in 18 community government presentations that have been conducted to date. As I mentioned, this is a responsibility of the local governments. We are here to provide the support to ensure that they are operating at a high standard and with the right training available to make sure that our communities are protected and kept safe.

In some communities, the fire departments have been rendered non-response departments. They have been put on hold, and there are no fire protection services available to the community. He has stated very clearly that his department is providing support. How is his department providing support to local governments to ensure their level of fire protection services is available for all residents of the NWT?

If the community or the hamlet has a fire chief, we will work with them to help them develop a volunteer fire team where volunteer firefighters will provide the training and the support for those volunteer firefighters to get the proper training that they need. We will also work with the SAOs of the hamlets in terms of working to get these fire protection plans in place, but also get the right training for the volunteer firefighters.

As I mentioned, we have developed a fire department assessment tool that helps us to identify any, like I said, inadequacies or any challenges that need to be taken into account to help develop that fire protection plan for the community. We are willing to work with all the communities across the Northwest Territories to ensure that each community has a fire department, has a fire protection plan in place should something happen in that community.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for his replies, as well. Could the Minister outline to the House in terms of a target or a specific timeline that his department has of ensuring that all 33 communities, at least, have local fire departments and fire protection measures in place? Mahsi.

Right now, we can't really set a timeline based on the resources that some of these communities have. As I mentioned, we have a fire protection action planning tool, as well, that was developed in 2017. It identifies priority activities, monitors progress, works toward a safe, effective, sustainable fire service. We have 13 community action plans under that planning tool.

We will continue to work with the NWTAC LGANT as well as the NWT Fire Association. We will be meeting with them at their upcoming general meeting 2018 to give them an update and see how we can work together collaboratively to address some of these communities that don't have either a fire protection plan or an adequate fire service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's statement; I am hoping the Minister heard parts of it. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier in my statement, we had a large fire in my riding last year. We are fortunate there was no damage to any infrastructure in the community or the water plant in Fort McPherson. I would like to ask the Minister: what is ENR's plans for fire prevention in the Mackenzie Delta this year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I apologize for missing the Member's fantastic statement. I hear the Member's point, and I have seen pictures of the fire that they had. Let us hope that we don't have those types of situations again this year. We try to work with the communities in fire smarting their communities.

I believe there was a local FireSmart representative workshop that was held in Yellowknife recently in March. I am not quite sure who the participants were. I understand there were 24 attendees from Communities, Lands, and a few other departments. I will work with the department to find out the outcomes of that workshop, and I would be glad to share it with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am glad the Minister mentioned the fire smarting. That leads me to my next question: can the Minister commit to fire smarting communities in the Mackenzie Delta this year so that the communities can use their capital funds for other critical infrastructure needs?