Jay Macdonald

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can assure this House that the wildfire that went on to impact the community of Enterprise was initially attacked on the first day it was detected on August 2nd and was actioned consistently prior to the tragic event of August 13th. The fire crews actioned the fire was actioned by crews and aircraft that were allowed but the extreme fire conditions and extreme fire behaviour made fighting the fire very challenging.

The incident commander had daily contact with the regional emergency management organization. On August 13th, ECC officials contacted MACA...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the budget for the fire suppression program is a predetermined budget that is very much based on our contractual obligations. So typically, it is the practice of the department when we start our season earlier that there's a potential that we may have we may end the season earlier, but that is all really dependent on the level of activity and the amount of fires and resources that are required. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, the plan is to start our aviation contracts earlier in the year. Most of the contracts that we have for fixed wing aviation are longterm, multiyear contracts. And there's a provision within the contract through notification from the department to allow those contracts to start sooner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, fire towers have been used as one of the series of tools used by ECC to detect wildfires, including smoke patrols, lightening detection, networks, weather stations, satellite base and public reporting. The industry standard for fire towers is moving away from having people work in isolation for safety reasons. However, fire towers are being used to house communications, equipment, and detection cameras. ECC is investing in remote camera networking to provide 360degree coverage and operate 24 hours a day providing a proven and effective way to monitor new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECC was aware that the communities in the area were at risk, and that is why the evacuation notice and then upgraded to the evacuation alert before finally being put on full evacuation. ECC and MACA have a wildfire event notification protocol advertising on what level of risk a wildfire may pose to a community. The protocol determines when and how ECC will advise MACA of the threat level to a community and when evacuation is recommended. The fire was between 25 and 30 kilometres to the north and west of the community at noon on August 13th, and the fire...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the idea of a public review of the events from the 2023 wildfire season has been top of mind for me from early days from when I started the end of my work with environment and climate change in the fire program into my campaign for MLA as I was elected to this House and as I became Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

One of the things that I want to emphasize today is I want to stand here and thank all of the people and the personnel and the firefighters and the GNWT staff who gave up so much through this event. They gave up time with their families...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have increased our resources. From last year's allocation, we brought on some extra rotary wing as well as by identifying the need and potential for holdover fires to have early activity in the spring of 2024. We are ensuring that our resources are brought on sooner and that the preparation work, which much of which started in the fall of 2023, is completed and prepared for a potential early start. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Yes, plans are already underway to start our fire crews and aviation contracts earlier in the season. This will allow training to happen sooner, especially on the resources that are in the South with the potential for additional early season fires. So we should have everything up and running in early May. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECC has a series of tools that are used to detect and monitor wildfires, including lightening detection, weather stations, fire detection towers, satellitebased remote sensing, and aircraft smoke patrols. In the event of a wildfire, additional monitoring is put in place depending on the location and nature of the fire. ECC's valueatrisk system automatically notifies managers of values that may be potentially at risk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any decisions on water conservation will be informed by our snowpack assessments that we do annually and water levels of source rivers. Information would be shared with communities and with multiple parties involved in this discussion and further action. ECC will continue to assess water conditions and distribute monthly monitoring bulletins to the public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.