Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The flooding in Nahanni Butte that happened this spring might not be making headlines anymore, but it still is very much part of the day-to-day reality of the residents of the community. I have heard from other communities that have had similar disasters, that it takes about a year to get back to normal.
After my visit of last week, I can surely say that life is still not the same in the community of Nahanni Butte. I want to commend the people of Nahanni Butte for their patience so far, and encourage them to continue being patient as they go through the rebuilding effort. It is going to take time. Our GNWT emergency response effort through Mr. Mike Drake and all regional managers in Nahendeh have to be applauded, as well, during that time. But mostly I really want to commend the residents for how they have responded to the situation and helped each other out. For example, one family recently took the initiative to re-open a much needed store out of their own home.
As we go about rebuilding, I think it is important that we also learn from our experiences of this, that we also need a long-term plan for Nahanni Butte which may even include relocating the community over the flood plains it currently sits in.
Also, repair to the access road has been delayed. That takes patience, even though residents are very upset about it.
At the territorial level we often need to take a look at what we can do to improve our emergency response plan and our disaster systems policy. Most importantly, I think the real lesson of this experience is how the people of Nahanni Butte and Nahendeh can really pull together in a time of need. We should all be inspired by the example that they have set.
I would also like to express sincere appreciation to all the workers, volunteers and community members who helped Nahanni Butte through this crisis and who continue to help as we work to get things back to normal, and also to the many groups, businesses and communities that contributed and raised funds to assist them. It will take time but we will get there.
Throughout the remainder of this session, I will speak more specifically to some of these concerns that have not been addressed yet during our session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
