Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. On emergency management, something that was brought up to me when I was going door to door during the election is -- and pointed out to me is that emergency management operations tend to be managed in other governments, or at least are managed in other governments in some cases, by kind of a separate emergency management organization. Is this something that MACA's ever looked to whether there would be any benefit to it? I mean, I think certainly considering in a time of fiscal responsibility if it required setting up different structures, it may not be the fiscally responsible thing to do, but I am wondering if MACA has looked to other jurisdictions how they kind of structure and manage emergency -- sorry, how they structure the organization that manages emergencies and see if there's anything we can learn from what other jurisdictions are doing to help improve our effectiveness. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sure the Member can appreciate that a lot of the other centres are a lot bigger and can have the capacity and the resources and the people to do that whereas we don't. So we do, essentially, have a separate entity within MACA that is able to stand up and set up in case of an emergency. So we have our EMO court manager, and they have the resources to stand up a team separate from essentially MACA with some people essentially filling roles within that to stand up during an emergency, like our casual or relief EMO assistant people that we're advertising. Thanks.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's it for me.

Thank you. Next on my list I have is the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I'm going to ask about the ground search and rescue. Apparently, we do not provide support to ground search and rescue through the emergency management organization, and this is something that was one of the recommendations of the audit that was held -- or the report that was held to review things. Is there any reason why we can't make changes to the emergency management organization to bring ground search and rescue under its umbrella so we can better coordinate these efforts in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, a lot of it relates to capacity. You know, a lot of organizations that do ground search and rescue are volunteer organization supported and, similarly, that's what we do in the GNWT, we're supporting ground search and rescue volunteer organizations. Like, today, for an example, with our volunteer awards, we had an organization from Ulukhaktok that was being recognized for their work with search and rescue. So there are organizations out there that are set up and like other provinces, have ground search and rescue groups that are essentially on their own fundraising and with the ability to do ground search and rescue for if needed. So we do support them essentially financially for a community up to a certain amount -- and it states all on the website -- with the ability to support them for, like, standup expenses like food and such things like that. So there is a government support for local communities during standup of a ground search and rescue. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you. So -- and I do know that, and it is volunteer driven, and I want to commend the volunteers who do this work in our communities and recognizing the award that was given today. That's great to the recognition from the department as well so I commend the Minister and his department for that. But I have been in contact with the Yellowknife Ground Search and Rescue Team, and there are some concerns here that are concerning, to say the least.

Right off the bat, I mean, they had funding for training, around $5,000 -- which isn't very much money -- that was cut, and I'm wondering if that money could be reinstated so they can continue to do things like the adventure smart program I mentioned earlier today. This is a great program. The training materials are out there. They just need a little bit of resources to keep the training going. They do it on their own time. $5,000 isn't very much. I don't expect a commitment today -- I'd like one but can -- I don't expect it, but could the Minister at least work with the team, the YK Search and Rescue Team, and find ways that we can provide a little bit more support because some of that's been pulled back, and if he has to work with the Department of Justice, what have you, but this is something that I think is really important that we continue to support these volunteers in our communities because it's tough work, and they take a lot -- it takes a lot out of them to commit the time and energy into these lifesaving activities. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. And no question this is tough work, and a lot of it, you know, again is volunteerism. Like any other NGO, I believe there's programs out there that they can, you know, try to attract and maybe support themselves, and I think there's a few departments that have funds available that could potentially be useful to that NGO. But right now, a lot of the funds that we have are available for local governments when they go to stand up in a ground search and rescue incident and get things going. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake. Sorry, I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you. Best lake. Okay, so thank you, Minister. I'm probably going to bring some questions to you tomorrow in question period around this so we can get more of that out on the floor.

So obviously, there's been a big decrease in the funding for this activity because of the extraordinary events that happened in 2023-2024. My concern is we have an imminent afteraction review that's being done by a third party that we should expect this fiscal year. Presumably it will have recommendations. How does the department intend to act on those recommendations? Because if there's no money put behind it -- I mean, I can't imagine we're going to see a situation where there's recommendations that are just change policy here and there and make minor improvements. Like, is there a plan or contingency being set aside to meet those? I'm not looking for details of that report or anything like that. I'm happy to wait what's coming, it's just is there a -- is there a plan in place to be prepared to act on those urgently, or are we going to have to see sups, or is this going to wait for future years, or is it just not going to be funded? I guess I'm looking for clarity on that, because this is still something that's -- when we got elected, this was a top issue. It has kind of not receded into the background because we had -- we've had to move on as global events have taken us forward, but we still can't forget about it because it is fundamentally why many of us were elected to -- including the Minister, to bring this heightened level of scrutiny to emergency management in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, and I -- you know, I agree with the Member. There's definitely -- once the afteraction review is completed, there's probably going to be some changes. But we also can't speculate what those changes are so we obviously have to wait to see what potentially the identifying costs are going to be and how we're going to act on them. Some of them may not be costs. Some of them just may be operational. So you know, once the afteraction review is complete and we're able to see what we have to do, then we can start putting feelers out there for costs in regards to what we have to do for the recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.

I'll conclude my saying I would support any of those costs, even if it means shifting other priorities or making adjustments to infrastructure for whatever, whatever it takes, because this emergency management system, you know, needs the resources it needs to be effective. We know that things are going to get more difficult in future years with the ongoing climate emergencies that we are experiencing as a territory and, of course, an increasingly hostile geopolitical environment. So we need to be prepared for any outcome. So this is my blank cheque to the Minister to support anything his department needs in terms of emergency management and public safety going forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess just to share some information with that. You know, with the anticipated afteraction review coming in, the departments have already aligned a working group that is already set up to start actioning some of this stuff. So the working group is already being formed to work on the afteraction review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Range Lake. No further questions? Thank you. Going to go to the Member from the Deh Cho.

Just waiting to hear from -- just kidding. Emergency management. Okay, you said there's probably going to be the updates to the disaster assistance policy. What will be the updates?