Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to follow up on my Member’s statement on the subject of the 911 emergency call centres. It is clearly agreed by all Members of the 17th Assembly that we support sustainable, vibrant and safe communities. Recently in this House, we’ve heard from the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs that he was considering to plan some monies for the 2014-2015 budget for the opportunities to explore 911 implementation. Yet, in the same breath, he indicated MACA did not have much money. This does not give many Members in this House the assurance that this subject is truly going to see the light of day.
My questions today will be for the Premier, who is now wandering the halls of this Assembly, looking for a new project to tempt him now that devolution is well on its way. Would the Premier agree of the need for a 911 NWT-wide emergency central call centre? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought my next task was to go out and find all the missing caribou, but I’ll take a detour and talk about 911. I agree that a 911 system would serve residents well in protecting and preserving public safety. As a government, we’ve been focusing on trying to build capacity in smaller communities, and to provide for some emergency and safety services.
I guess the question in my mind is if we do have a framework, if we do hire a call centre in Edmonton and we get a call from a small community calling Edmonton, how do we get a responder in a small centre if we don’t have the capacity there? I guess that’s the conundrum our government has been focusing on. But we do know that 911 will improve public safety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, that’s good news. I’ll inform the caribou they’re safe for another week or so. I appreciate what I’m hearing from the Premier. I appreciate the fact that this government and our Assembly are focusing on capacity in our communities, and that is a good sign. The solution to what the Premier is indicating is the formalization of all our emergency action plans across the communities. That’s where the cipher is and I’m hoping it’s something we’ll work on collectively.
I know the Premier is well versed in the subject of the lack of 911 services in the NWT, but can the Premier reassure this House that his government, our government, will consider earmarking the appropriate money and resources for the initiation of a framework of 911 services in the 2014-2015 budget cycle? Thank you.
Thank you. I’ll work very closely with my colleague, the Minister of MACA, and we’ll see how well or how many action plans we’ve developed. If our action plans are developed to the extent whereby we can move to the next level and if committee concurs that this would be a priority, then we would seriously look at this framework that the Member is talking about. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
