Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I asked questions to the Minister in terms of the ambulance service. I would like to talk about highway emergency services today.
Many residents of the Northwest Territories and visitors to our territory probably assume if they were to have an accident on one of our highways, there are ambulances and trained emergency service providers who would come to their rescue. They would be surprised to learn how thinly our emergency services are stretched. The issue is one of gaps and policies, legislation and coordination. We do not have a clear framework for emergency services outside of communities that tells who’s responsible for what and who is authorized to do what.
It is also one of funding for equipment and training. Most communities do not even have a local ambulance, let alone the capacity to respond to an accident 50 or 100 kilometres away.
One resource we do have, thankfully, is a lot of very committed volunteers and professionals, who are more than willing to be there to provide these essential services. It must be very frustrating for them to not have the policy and funding support they need to do that effectively.
I’m concerned that we are all living in a bubble, just hoping that we don’t have a major accident or a fire on some remote stretch of highway. The odds are that one day that bubble is going to burst.
Clearly, it is the interest of public safety that well-trained first responders are available for highway emergency. Northwest Territories residents and visitors should feel confident that services are going to be there in the unfortunate event that they need them. Increased resource development activity and promotion of NWT tourism means more traffic and the greater likelihood of accidents and fires along the highway. We need to make ground ambulance and services in communities based on the highway our priority. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
