Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Premier. With regard to the recent evacuations and adequacy of government supports, it's my understanding that evacuation costs are eligible up for up to 90 percent reimbursement under the federal guidelines for the disaster financial assistance arrangements. Page 19, eligible response costs include temporary relocation, shelter, food, clothing, rescue, transportation, and related social and inquiry services. End of quote.
So can the Premier confirm whether evacuation costs for NWT residents, including any GNWT initiatives such as the Evacuation Travel Support Program, are eligible for federal reimbursement? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to defer that to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Minister responsible for MACA.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all disaster experienced to date in the Northwest Territories are eligible for reimbursement under two federal funding programs. The Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement, or DFAA, and Emergency Management Assistance Program, or EMAP. In the event of a large scale natural disasters, the DFAA provides reimbursement to territorial, plus provincial governments for related costs, including evacuations. The GNWT will seek reimbursement for all evacuation related costs which we have incurred. This includes the Evacuation Travel Support Program and direct GNWT costs such as flights and accommodations. Evacuation costs incurred by NWT residents are not eligible for reimbursement under DFAA. This is because DFAA is a program of last resort. After all resources of funding, including insurance, have been exhausted, this it is not an insurance program. It is an and it's not a compensation program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. So given that most of the evacuation costs are reimbursed well, I just don't understand why our support programs haven't been a little more generous and fairer. So I've received numerous complaints about the unfairness and inadequacy of the Evacuation Travel Support Program. So can the Premier tell us whether Cabinet is ready to reconsider the scope and amount of the current program and better support our residents that were evacuated? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Finance is not considering expanding the scope and amount to the Evacuation Travel Support Program. The Evacuation Travel Support Program was established to provide financial relief to NWT residents who evacuated in a vehicle during the evacuation that occurred as a result of the 2023 wildfires. I recognize that funding through this program alone does not cover all potential costs associated with the evacuation or incurred by residents.
In addition to the Evacuation Travel Support Program, the GNWT offered a number of different supports for evacuees during the evacuation including evacuation charter flights, gas at the Alberta border for evacuees who drove, accommodations at evacuation centres, and private accommodations where space was limited at evacuation centres, food allowance and meals, access to free municipal and provincial campgrounds, and a donation of $400,000 to the United Way to support the number of community organizations. I encourage residents to contact their insurance companies to see if they have coverage for evacuation in their policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I'm sure the Minister recognizes that I'm going to keep fighting for better support for the evacuees. But during my statement, I recognized that it was quite an accomplishment to evacuate most Yellowknife residents safely over a very short period of time. However, there can and should be improvements made to how we work together with Indigenous governments, including legislative and policy changes. So can the Minister tell us how GNWT intends to work better with Indigenous governments in the future on emergency management? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, MACA's experience is that many Indigenous governments work directly with community governments as part of their local EMO. Emergency management works best when it's addressed at the local level and by those who can direct community government staff and have the authority to mobilize community government, its assets, as part of the emergency response. There does need to be more clarity on roles and responsibilities, including relationships between the local EMO and the regional EMO and the territorial EMO, especially given the Emergency Management Act assigned responsibility for emergency management to community governments. We recognize there needs to be further cooperation with Indigenous governments for emergencies, and we will we want to hear directly from the Indigenous governments as part of the after-action review. And I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I've had a number of conversations with Indigenous leaders on that, and I agree we need to work better together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I believe he's quite sincere, and I do appreciate his efforts on that front, so.
I believe it is time, though, Mr. Speaker, to start to think about lessons learned about a fire and emergency management from these evacuations. There should be an independent third-party public review, and I think one of the options that needs to be considered is the Public Inquiries Act. But I'd like to know from the Minister whether Cabinet has a position and a direction on such a review of fire and emergency management. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, we've already started to turn our attention to the lessons learned on the emergency management side. People have been taking notes. We've been working with the municipalities, hearing things that work really well, and things that we can improve on. There will be an independent third party review. It is a standard practice in all jurisdictions to conduct an after-action review after disaster events to examine what happened, what worked, and what didn't, and to make recommendations for improvements going forward. The 2023 wildfire after-action review is anticipated to be a large undertaking and will be public. We want to hear from the public, staff working directly on the emergency response, Indigenous governments, NGOs, federal and provincial, territorial partners who assisted with providing evacuation supports and others. We will not be waiting for recommendations to start making improvements. We know that much work can start now, including review of the NWT emergency plan, increase training to support the community governments, starting a review with the Emergency Management Act. This work cannot be finalized until the recommendations are provided. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
