Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
As we apply the learnings from the pandemic and the flooding events that occurred in 2021, could the Minister comment on how lessons learned from the past will affect our future collaboration with the Canadian Red Cross in the Northwest Territories? How will the Red Cross work with this team during our next emergencies? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for MACA.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for the question. Red Cross has we've had conversations with them, myself and the Minister of Health and Social Services. We've had conversations on that. Communities have reached out to Red Cross as well. So we are working with them presently. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the collaboration is a collaboration; I appreciate that answer. So next my question is in complex and protracted events, it is essential to collaborate with organizations that bring learnings and expertise from across Canada that we may not have here in the territory; as well, we're all responsible for community preparedness and readiness.
So how will the GNWT and the Red Cross collaborate and share expertise on important initiatives such as volunteer capacity building, advanced preparation and disaster planning, and community education and awareness? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have reached Red Cross has reached out to us; we've reached out to them. We're having these conversations. We are building our capacity within the territories. We're working on our flood management programs, our floodrelated issues. ENR is working with them with fires as well. So we are working on these things. We are building the capacity in the communities. And if the communities are saying we need certain things that we don't have to offer, we're looking elsewhere. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll try again; I'm actually looking for details on that collaboration in training programs, schedules, you know, meeting appointments, anything that could be provided to the Regular Members as to actually what is going on in that conversation with the Red Cross.
Can the Minister explain why at the beginning of the flooding disaster last year, it took so long for the GNWT to draw on the resources of the Red Cross? It's my understanding that it took Indigenous leadership in the region to start that ball rolling. What is the Minister doing to ensure that if we do need help in the future that we're going to request that help at the first moment possible? Thank you.
Thank you. The Member has about three or four questions in there so I'll try to focus on a couple of them.
We are working on a plan to move forward. If that involves Red Cross, we will add that into it. We are working with the communities to make sure they're prepared for it. We had learning opportunities from the last flood, and so we're working on those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister did not explain or answer my question as to why it took time for the Red Cross to be pulled in and why we left it up to Indigenous governments in order to do so. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For that detail, I'll have to get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
