Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, October is fire prevention month. It is a good time to remind everyone to replace the batteries in their smoke alarms, make sure the fire exits in their houses are clear of obstruction and talk to family members about an escape plan if fire breaks out. It is also an opportunity to pay tribute to those individuals in small communities who give their time, put their lives on the line and serve the communities as volunteer fire fighters.
Mr. Speaker, volunteer fire fighters provide an essential service; one that is critical to the safety and wellbeing of the community and its residents. It takes a special person to serve as a volunteer fire fighter. People who do this work give their time without being paid. They undertake the training necessary to do the job properly and safely and they contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of the community's fire-fighting equipment. They are called to work long hours at any time of the day or night and often in the worst northern weather conditions. In addition to fighting fires, volunteer fire fighters in the Dehcho communities, such as Enterprise and Fort Providence, also serve as first responders to emergencies on the highway. Above all, these volunteers have the courage to put their own safety aside to help others in need.
Small communities need volunteers to keep our communities alive and to provide vital services such as firefighting. Firefighting is not easy work. It demands courage, commitment and personal sacrifice. In small communities, it is especially challenging to find people with the right qualities who are willing to do this work. For this reason, I want to give a special shout-out to the Enterprise Fire Department. Just last year, Enterprise was down to four or five volunteers, making it difficult to find a crew large enough to take out the fire truck and making the community rely on Hay River, almost 40 kilometres away for firefighting support.
Now, Fire Chief Blair Porter and the 11 residents that are currently signed up as volunteer fire fighters are back to a full crew. As a government, we must do everything in our power to assist community fire departments and the volunteers who make them run. We need to provide financial support to the municipalities to make sure volunteers have safe and operable equipment. We need to support communities to provide firefighting training.
We also need to make sure that the Fire Prevention Act is up to date in providing the right legislative framework for support in community fire departments. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue my statement. Masi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi, colleagues, for giving me some more time. Later today, I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs about the work her department is doing to support community fire departments. Mahsi.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
