Vince McKay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week, actually starting tomorrow, from June 5th to 7th marks the 30th Annual Northwest Territories Track and Field Championships in Hay River. And I know this might come to a bit of a surprise to most of you; however, I will not be there participating as an athlete. It's been a long road, and it's been a long five years since the last track and field events were held because of COVID19 and natural disasters, this annual tradition finally returns. If you're from Hay River, you know how significant this event is and how deeply the community is involved. It takes...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document: The Annual Report Northwest Territories Public Utilities Board for the Year Ending December 31, 2023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess if the Member says there's a gap, and I'm not sure of it, I don't see or hear the gaps. I only see and hear of the lack of communication and the lack of responsibility from the department but, at the same time, I'm told by my department that they're working with community governments to make sure that these avenues are all filled up and everything's being communicated clearly. So I would hope there's no gaps and, if there is, I hope the communities reach out to the department to clarify where the issues are and how the department can assist to clarify these or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So with the capacity issues within communities, the department is working with local governments to establish what more resources are needed, and if there's an opportunity for a local government to or if there's a need for a local government for more resources, then MACA will step in and ask for more assistance or get more resources and tier it up to the point where we may need to call out to other communities or other businesses to assist with capacity issues. But for the most part, it's up to the communities to realize what their capacities are and what needs they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA has been working to expand the NWT alerting system. They've worked with the RCMP recently for the ability for them to send out alerts. MACA's always looking at improving the way we communicate. When it comes down to a territorial emergency, right now I think we're at the stage where we're using the NWT alert system. There's also other apps and devices out there, like Alertable, for an example where you can set your region for your ability to pick up those kinds of emergencies if there is any. But there's locally, I would have to say the best resources are your...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would hope no community would turn away any other community for assisting them in an evacuation. And I would hope that, you know, a local community would reach out to the department in assistance in hosting evacuation or hosting another community. But that being said, I know other communities have reached out to other you know, between communities, reached out to each other to assess and set up evacuation centres based on their evacuation plans, which has no involvement of the departments, especially MACA. They've done that on their own. But there is that assistance...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware of any gaps in hosting. And if there is any, the local communities need to reach out to the department to work on these gaps that the Member's bringing forward. During his Member's statement, I have access to the documents, obviously, but I went online to make sure it was on there. I word searched on the document, and I searched up something for an example, like, reimbursement costs, which took me right to the page, annex A, section 8, where it talks about full reimbursement costs. So if a local government is unsure, they could go to the emergency plan...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As this is a new development central focused area for getting communication out there, the department will continue to work on it and hopefully we can get as much information on there as we can like the Member's suggesting, and I think those are all great things. It's just a matter of working on the site to get the communication and the information on there that is needed. So we'll continue to work and develop that site to have more information. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are many levels of community or sorry, emergency situations and for that, every level has a different stage that they will go in for what they're going to stand up and what they're going to need at that time. So depending on what stage it might be in, us as MACA may not fully be involved but we would be there to observe and assist with the department regional superintendents and the manager of EMO. But for the most part, at every stage MACA will be involved to assist any community emergency whether they fully need us or not, but for the most part, just...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am aware of other communities that have reached out for funding for emergency remediation on banks, riverbanks, and berms and stuff like that, like that of Hay River. So I will look into it with the department and see what we can do for your community. Thank you.