Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just following up on my Member’s statement in terms of recognizing the local employment opportunities for the tiny hamlet of Enterprise, recently the community was quite excited to experience the construction of the fire tower in the vicinity of their community.
Can the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources provide an update on the construction of the Enterprise fire tower? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
I can, Mr. Speaker, and I’d be happy to make sure the Member gets it as soon as I get that update for him. Thank you.
This community receiving a fire tower wasn’t a random decision. I know ENR considers the geography and the location of these towers.
How was it determined that Enterprise would see a fire tower? Mahsi.
There was a range of vision, there was a need to replace, there was a discussion with the community looking for appropriate land, and then working through the logistics in terms of the actual project to get it built. Thank you.
Just in terms of the experience of last fire season, which was fairly significant, the biggest on record, is there anything special that the Minister and his department will undertake to involve the community in terms of preparing for this fire season? For example, perhaps considering some strategic locations of communities for fire bases, or amassing, perhaps, a camp of personnel, ensuring that communities are involved and perhaps ensuring that communications are very clear in terms of involving communities. Mahsi.
ENR has been doing work all winter and is concluding that work in the coming months to work with the communities, work with stakeholders, getting feedback on last fire season, as well as going around, along with MACA, to look at communities getting fire smarted, getting ready with their emergency measures plans.
We’ve learned from last year. We’re going to be bringing our emergency firefighters on stream sooner, and we’re going to be standing ready, especially in light of the indicators that we’re now getting in regards to snowpack and those types of things, which look to be below normal at a time when we’re in the fourth year of the most severe drought. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister just alluded to perhaps an indication of some environmental factors in terms of snowpack, in terms of trying to predict whether we’re going to have another dry season or not.
Can the Minister at least give an indication to the House in terms of his efforts or department’s efforts to try and forecast whether we’re going to have another drought season or not? Mahsi.
We’ve been looking at talking to the people we have on retainer, the meteorologists that take long-term forecasts. NTPC, in the next couple of weeks, is going to be doing testing of the snowpack in the Snare system just to check to see what they anticipate the runoff might be. Of course, we’re monitoring. With the benefit of satellite imagery now, we’re monitoring the snowpack and we can tell, from everything I’ve heard, that what has fallen so far this year is less than a normal year. To have any positive effect, we need at least double the snow we currently have to date. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
