Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last weekend I went home and heard from constituents who are asking what this government is doing to address future flood preparedness for the communities of Hay River and K'atlodeeche. Residents are concerned that this government has been silent on what, if any, action is being taken, or is currently underway to assess the flood, our response, mitigation solutions, and emergency preparedness.
Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that we are only six months away from spring break up, and the question is are we prepared to deal with another flood?
Preparedness does not suggest continuing to offload responsibility to communities that lack, not only human and financial resources, but the expertise to identify and evaluate those flood risk indicators. This government must be, not only an active partner, but take the lead.
Mr. Speaker, in a prior round of questions to the Minister of MACA, he alluded to the fact his authority for addressing flood preparedness and mitigation is limited to what is inside the community boundary. If we do not consider what occurs outside a community boundary, this government will not be prepared to effectively address future flood potential. Mr. Speaker, this is why we need to conduct a thorough postmortem of the event that took place and to accomplish that, we must engage those government departments that have responsibility for the environment and communities. However, in saying that, we must task one department, or one agency, to take the lead – which, for the GNWT, would be the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. As well, it goes without saying that the Town of Hay River, K'atlodeeche First Nation, West Point First Nation, and the Metis, must be included in any and all pre and postflood discussions, assessments, and solutions.
Mr. Speaker, as the result of flood damage, this government, the federal government, Indigenous governments, residents, and businesses will have spent approximately $200 million to address property damage, loss of income, loss of revenue. On top of this figure, we will have additional costs associated with mitigation requirements, ongoing monitoring and assessments of the lake, river, community, and the Hay River Basin.
Mr. Speaker, at this point I am not comfortable in the answers I have received from this government when it comes to what is the plan going forward. Just as we have specialists when it comes to predicting and fighting forest fires, we need that same level of expertise in place when we talk flood and ice management, and those positions must be located in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
