Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is my last chance to make a statement supporting Hay River and supporting the gap that is actually that you know, in the people that actually had to travel south. Okay, I don't support this motion as a statement in support of people from Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What time was supper supposed to be at?

Mr. Speaker, I wasn't going to say anything today, but, you know, I just wanted to let people know, you know, the reason I ran for office. And I have I guess I've been in politics before. I have been president, you know, of the Metis local in Hay River and, you know, went to meetings. We were part of that, you know, the claim and the comprehensive claim that fell apart as well. And, you know, through that I guess I learned how to, you know, to be compassionate and empathetic and help people. And so that's what I have done most...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, we have heard about retired ECC firefighters coming back to this fire season to help with firefighting efforts, which I know we all appreciate. Will the Minister describe how many retired firefighters returned and what their roles and responsibilities were? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members of this Assembly have spoken at length on the importance of hiring Indigenous people. Will the Minister at ECC tell us how many ECC firefighters there are in total and how many are Indigenous? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, prior to starting my statement, I want to acknowledge Kya Wickens, one of the pages who is here with us today, and who has celebrated her 14th birthday with us in this House on September the 27th. I ask you to join me in wishing her a happy belated 14th birthday. And I like that big smile and hopefully we didn't embarrass her.

Mr. Speaker, to close off this 19th Legislative Assembly, which I have to say has been an interesting four years which I am pleased to have been part of. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge my colleagues who I have served...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've had some time to think about that motion and, you know, and what transpired and, you know, I'm in favour of it. And you know, we do have laws. We have the Code of Conduct. And we have to follow those. That's you know, that's basically the rule of law and in this instance the Member, I guess, failed to do that according to the Integrity Commissioner. There was a process. If there is a process, if one wanted to, in this case to be deemed essential, and which is a fairly easy process. And to give you an example, myself, I stayed in Hay River...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I guess I know who the Minister is speaking about, and I thank him for his service as well in volunteering.

Mr. Speaker, has the Minister received any feedback or is he expecting or asked for feedback from those retired firefighters on their experiences and observation of this year's fire season and how will that feedback be used? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very impressive numbers, and it's good to hear.

Mr. Speaker, we have heard about the challenges of certifying type 1 firefighters who were the frontline firefighters during the summer. Will the Minister tell us how ECC utilized these firefighters who were trained but not certified? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've got the names of everyone up there, and I want to go through them one by one. No, seriously, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize my wife Bette and my daughter Kayln who are in the gallery today. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate, I guess, what the Minister had to say about the additional funding and the tiered approach for those that those communities that were impacted by flooding and fires over the past 16 months. You know, it's not going to it's not going to fix everything because, you know, when I look at it, you're probably looking at even if you look at a thousand dollars a day lost in revenue and, you know and in Hay River, people have been out for, you know, up to two and a half two and a half months. And then you take that you take the time into sort of go in and...