Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about fire towers and job opportunities for the residents of the Deh Cho.
Fire towers are used to monitor wildfires. Government employees used to operate them seasonally, typically from May to October. We used to pay a person to stay up there and keep communities safe. The fire tower near Enterprise was completed in 2015, and it's still in active use. What I would like to know, Mr. Speaker, is how is the tower currently staffed and can the government look to create more jobs with this kind of work? As I have said in the House in past statements, the residents of Deh Cho need practical and viable solutions after the devastating loss of homes and other buildings, which was 80 percent of all structures in Enterprise. Deh Cho residents need help. They need new opportunities; jobs young people can do. Working on the fire tower is one way to help ensure this devastation from wildfires does not happen again.
Mr. Speaker, this fire season, but last year especially, we know the government is spending more and more on responding to wildfires, that the department has satellite technology to track where commitment is, technology to measure the size of fires even underground. They use aircraft to monitor and put out fires. Costs are only going to increase. But I think we must really look at the establishment of more fire towers. This will employ people and cut down on costs. It will be easier to spot wildfires if we use our towers and our people effectively rather than leaving -- having helicopters and airplanes flying constantly trying to action fires that could have been spotted earlier. We use the ten or so towers we currently have in the territory but can we use them more effectively to employ more people, respond to fires near communities early, and ultimately reduce the devastation and financial loss wildfires cause? I will have questions for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member from Hay River South.
