The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe Wiilidhe. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you. I'd like to also welcome everyone back into the House for the final sitting of the 19th Assembly. I also want to welcome back the residents of Yellowknife as well as those who were displaced for so long in the South Slave. I am very proud of the strength and resiliency of the residents of the NWT, of how people took care of each other. My social media feeds were full of people pitching in, sharing information, and providing resources to those less fortunate. It was truly heartwarming.

I also want to thank the hard-working fire, military, and safety personnel from the NWT and Alberta, and across Canada and the globe. They worked tirelessly and at great peril to protect our communities and keep people safe, and we owe them a huge thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as we entered the 2023 fire season, SCEDE had been working on Bill 74, the Forest Act. In the spring we traveled to several communities and received input from stakeholders and interested parties. This work confirmed for me that the NWT is woefully unprepared for climate-driven emergencies. From an out-of-date 2018 emergency plan to putting the onus on underfunded communities to take care of their own preparedness, mitigation, and response, the NWT is poised to face costly climate disaster after climate disaster for the foreseeable future. We must be proactive now and create community specific mitigation and response plans that incorporate Indigenous science and local knowledge to properly care for the land.

Mr. Speaker, why have we not seen an updated Emergency Response Plan during this Assembly, one that accounts for our rapidly changing climate? Emergency Response Plans should be considered living documents with annual updates and training. Has any of this happened or is the last time anyone looked at the plan in 2018?

In 2021, the Minister of ENR and I traveled to the UN climate conference in Glasgow where he had one goal. His job was to impress upon the federal government that the NWT was experiencing climate change at an unprecedented rate; to make the Liberal government understand that we could not afford to pay for their climate change election promises, nor did we have the capacity to do so. Considering the controversial tax imposed on us all in the spring, it's clear that this mission was a failure. And I am very concerned that if the GNWT does not get serious now and proactively address climate change and emergency response in the coming months, we are going to find ourselves in the same situation next summer. And Mr. Speaker, I can't think of anything worse for the mental well-being of our people if that was to happen. Thank you.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know this has been the worst forest fire season in the NWT history. This is the first time in history that two-thirds of NWT residents were forced to leave their homes. These tragic events displaced nearly 30,000 people for weeks and resulted in the loss of millions of hectares of land burned. In Tlicho region, four houses and 15 traditional cabins burned, as well devastating loss of traditional food from both vegetation and wildlife. The damage done to our lands will take decades to repair.

Mr. Speaker, this fire season has seen two Tlicho communities, Wekweeti and Behchoko, needing to be evacuated. Other communities were also evacuated, and some were put on alert status.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT current wildfire management policy has completely failed the people of the NWT. All NWT residents have been impacted and millions of hectares of land destroyed across the NWT. This wildfire management policy needs to change before more damage is done to NWT lands and communities.

Mr. Speaker, these fires all started out small and controllable. In such a dry, in a hot dry year, these fires should have been put out right away, not allowed to burn hoping that they extinguish themselves. This failure allowed millions of hectares of land destroyed and impacted the lives of every NWT resident. We cannot even begin to estimate the wildlife, the animals burned, plants, and all the animal habitat destroyed and the long-term impact this will have on residents of the NWT. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, all fire seasons, during all the fire seasons, the Minister has said that it is the hottest driest year, and that is true. In these extreme weather condition, a change to the policy should have happened. Letting fires burn until they threaten critical infrastructure has catastrophic results for the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, GNWT policy may have failed the people of the NWT the people of NWT did not fail each other. The people of the NWT were there to support one another. They opened their homes and hearts, volunteered their time and resources to support each other. It makes me proud to be a resident of the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the firefighters for the work that they do. They put their lives on the line and work countless hours to save NWT communities and our communities of Wekweeti and Behchoko. I also want to thank all the community government workers, volunteers, people who stayed behind in Behchoko and Wekweeti to support the firefighters. Even after ECC pulled out of Behchoko, some residents stayed behind to continue fighting the fire and save our community.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank all the people who supported Tlicho citizens during Behchoko and Wekweeti evacuation in Yellowknife. Thank you for your generosity and kindness.

Mr. Speaker, we were not happy with how our Tlicho communities were treated during Yellowknife evacuation. I will have another Member statement to discuss these concerns. Thank you.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have stood in this House and have spoke about the symbiotic relationship between between GNWT and private industry. We have a fundamental need for the sustainability of private industry. Its growth and prosperity is a true indicator of a healthy economic environment.

Here in Yellowknife, we saw firsthand how reliant governments are on private industry. Our private industry is the backbone of this territory and showed up in a big way as business and public servants worked together to fire smart this town.

A healthy territory relies on a vibrant private sector which isn't only a reliance on the businesses deemed essential and able to stay. We rely on hundreds of business from medium corporations and limited liability companies to small and home-based businesses that collectively serve residents and government.

Mr. Speaker, our businesses are hurting. Many have said evacuations hit harder than COVID. Hay River businesses experienced three evacuations in a year and a half, South Slave operators saw significant weeks of evacuations. Some South Slave businesses lost everything. And even with the three weeks of evacuation here in Yellowknife, without infrastructure loss, cost financial shortfalls of $20,000 in some and well over hundreds of thousands in others.

Mr. Speaker, the income disruption policy is not reflective of northern wages and owners don't qualify. The SEED relief covers some monthly expenses but is capped at $5,000 as is the BDIC WARM funding. I have heard some people say that businesses should have had insurance, but business insurance does not cover natural disasters or pandemics. Multiple Kam Lake businesses continue to pay salaries or allowances to staff out of a personal duty of loyalty and care for their employees. With no billable hours, this caused incredible hardship for those employers.

Mr. Speaker, in a nation with a labour shortage, these employers need their staff to return to Yellowknife to continue to fulfill fall contracts. And this government needs those residents to come home too. Some businesses, without the cash flow to continue to pay salary, lost staff who couldn't weather the uncertainty of an evacuation, some have cancelled contracts or shifted business operations, driving summer work into winter months with greater costs while others work on an exit plan, Mr. Speaker. This means we have not yet experienced the actual fire season cost as the dominoes continue to fall in private industry. Businesses need to save for a rainy day they say but this is not a rainy day, Mr. Speaker. These are the impacts of unmitigated climate change on a territory without a viable aspirational plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I would like to join in my colleagues and thanking all of our forestry firefighters, all of those who worked at -- our pilots, our tanker bases, in those logistics, to the hundreds of volunteers in multiple communities, especially here in Yellowknife who stayed behind and built what is truly an impressive fire break in a matter of days as well as all of the municipal staff. And lastly, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all of our constituents who have been through a lot, and it seems like the majority of time in this Assembly has been spent in some sort of state of emergency, and it feels like we just can't get a rest. I know a lot of us are feeling like little stress, and I encourage everyone, you know, to try and take some time now to recover and hopefully we get a little break from this never-ending string of emergencies.

But Mr. Speaker, that may not be the case, and I want to echo the sentiment of some of my colleagues that we have to take this after-action review seriously. We have to work with our municipalities, and I think that we have to answer some fundamental questions, one is on fire management. Are we spending enough on fire prevention or are communities properly funded to build fire breaks? Are we doing enough control burning now that cooler weather is with us? Emergency management, can we really continue to have our communities be the lead on emergency management?

Here in Yellowknife, it was very clear that the City of Yellowknife was never resourced and funded to do air evacuation or to evacuate a whole city, let alone provide accommodations across multiple jurisdictions. We stepped that up and did that, but it raises fundamental questions about where that responsibility should lie in the first place.

I think there are lots of questions about our forest management practices going forward. Certainly we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on suppression, and we are experts in that front. But there are questions about how large fire breaks need to be built around communities. Communities, two of them, we had the opportunity to tragically to see the one in Enterprise just before the community was burnt, Mr. Speaker, and they were proud of the size of that. But was there any size of fire break that would have prevented that fire or would control burning have done that? I don't have these answers. They are technical questions, but I think this is the entire scope of an after-action review that we owe our citizens and I think needs public input from the public and all the community and all of the people involved in this so we can answer some of these questions and we don't find ourselves fighting over jurisdiction in the midst of an emergency again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Adam Blake Yeadon was born on August 30th, 1997, at Fort Nelson BC to Barbara Bertrand and Jack Yeadon. Adam was the fourth of five children.

Adam was raised in Fort Liard where he lived most of his life. He went to Bella Coola for a couple of years with his dad and brother Jackson, but his heart was calling him home and he came back to live with his sister Donna and her husband Norman.

He was dedicated -- described as a loveable and happy child who grew into a generous young man with drive and enthusiasm. He was always willing and smiling, hardworking, and loved using the chainsaw. It was his prized possession.

Mr. Speaker, Adam was most happy when he was on the land. He was never afraid to be alone in the bush; it's where he felt his happiest and safe and connected. He was a determined individual. A perfect example was when he was 17 years old, he decided that he wanted to be a wild land firefighter so, when the plane landed in Fort Liard to take people to Fort Simpson for training, he jumped on the plane. Unfortunately, when he landed an instructor looked at him and asked him his age. After telling him the truth, his age, he was then sent home on the next plane to Fort Liard. This not did not stop him. The following year, he was prepared and ready when the call came for people interested in training. Once he took the training, it confirmed his passion to be a wild land firefighter. He loved his EFF family immensely and took his job very seriously. He was very proud to be part of the EFF community.

On February 21st, 2020, his dad's birthday, his life improved with Keena coming into his life. She remembered going for a walk that day and Adam stopped her for a chat. This moment led to them getting together and the following year they both welcomed their most beautiful baby, Aisey. Adam was such a loving father and very protective of his family. Adam was very loved by his family and friends. They returned the love he had for them.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say his colleagues built and placed a cross on the site where he passed away and will be doing a moment of silence at the start of each fire season. This was due to their respect for him.

The family would like to thank ECC for all the support they received during this difficult time, and the Premier for being able to come to the funeral. He is predeceased by his loving mother who passed away in 2006.

Mr. Speaker, he will be greatly remembered and loved by his father Jack, brothers Carl and Jackson, his sisters Crystal and Donna, his girlfriend Keena and his daughter Aisey, his extended family, friends, and the firefighting family in the community ever Fort Liard and the residents of the Nahendeh. Mr. Speaker, he will be sadly missed.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Our continued thoughts and prayers for the family and community at this time.

Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize my constituent Julie Thrasher who, unfortunately, I can't see from where I sit. But Julie is a Great Slave constituent, also originally from Inuvik, and also a strong supporter in the community, often feeding and helping the vulnerable population. So I just wanted to say thank you to Julie for that work; it's well needed. So thank you; welcome.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.