Debates of May 27, 2005 (day 3)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, as the lead Minister of emergency services, what is the government doing to get the people in Fort Good Hope back into their homes and back to their lives prior to the flood as soon as possible? What is the Minister doing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 31-15(4): Assistance To Fort Good Hope Flood Victims

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I guess I should first of all commend the community of Fort Good Hope for all of their efforts and their ability to work together during this real tense time this spring, when we were experiencing some severe flooding in that community. I would also like to commend the MLA for that riding for all of his good work in keeping the communications line open during that difficult time.

Madam Speaker, we are, as the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, working with a number of other departments within this government to ensure that there is a smooth effort or action plan undertaken to allow people to return to a normal routine in their lives. We have had our emergency management coordinator in the community for several days over this past week to do an assessment of where and how things can be dealt with. We have assessed that the damage is well over $1 million in the community. That does not include some of the damage that has happened to some of the houses for the NWT Housing Corporation.

We have had, along with our coordinator, an insurance adjuster in the community doing an assessment, and we have also contracted a disaster services agency from Yellowknife to help us put together an action plan and start doing some of the recovery. We have already seen the Fort Good Hope Band Council do a lot of the work that is required in terms of cleanup. They have cleaned up some of the contaminated public areas and worked on some of the flooded-out roads. We are doing everything in our power to ensure that this is done quickly. We have done a lot of work to put together an action plan; we have a lot of people in the communities from the government. I did a quick count and we have at least 25 people from the different departments in this government do their assessments and go into the community and look at their responsibilities. We are trying to package all that up and have the people back in their houses and have the seniors' home up and running.

The Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation informs me that the renovations to the seniors' home is 95 percent complete, so that is something that we could look at opening fairly quickly, depending if it passes the inspections that are required. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 31-15(4): Assistance To Fort Good Hope Flood Victims

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. That is good news for the people back in Fort Good Hope. I also wanted to say congratulations to the Ministers and the departments for how they coordinated this situation in Fort Good Hope. As part of the coordination, I want to ask the Minister of MACA, would he commit to looking at the emergency measures policy in terms of if there is a similar type of situation in the NWT? They had some hiccups of the local emergency measures and the post-flood situation, and the department needs to look at the emergency measures guidelines and policies and a tightening up of the coordination by the departments. Would the Minister commit to reviewing the emergency measures with the community of Fort Good Hope on similar situations that may happen in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 31-15(4): Assistance To Fort Good Hope Flood Victims

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will certainly commit to doing that. We do review our emergency measures policy on a regular basis. Each community has emergency measures plans, however, there is a time for updating the plans and for reviewing the plans with the community, especially in the areas where there are changes in council. We will commit to reviewing the emergency measures policy and the plans and meet with the communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 31-15(4): Assistance To Fort Good Hope Flood Victims

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, part of the flood damages are people who have cabins, who have houses, equipment and supplies on the land. Would the Minister commit to the people of Fort Good Hope and to the House here that he will have some discussions with ITI and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources regarding compensation for the loss of the cabins and skidoos of the trappers? I understand the policy on natural disasters per occurrence is about a $4,500 maximum for compensation. Would they have some discussion as to how they could properly compensate the cabin owners who have lost some of their personal belongings and property? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 31-15(4): Assistance To Fort Good Hope Flood Victims

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I cannot speak for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, however, my information tells me that there has been some analysis done in that area. I believe there was a helicopter survey done and there has been some assessment already conducted in the area of damages to the cabins. I believe there is a trapper's compensation program that can be accessed through this program. I will take that request to the appropriate Ministers and have them respond accordingly. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 31-15(4): Assistance To Fort Good Hope Flood Victims

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the meetings with the Fort Good Hope people and the people who were affected by the flood shed a new light on the effects of the disaster by the Mackenzie River. The people really want to see the highest level of government in the community of Fort Good Hope. I ask the Minister of MACA how soon could he and possibly some other Ministers arrange a trip into Fort Good Hope to talk to the people, so that they have some degree of comfort by the Ministers that this government does have a heart and they do care? They will be happy to see the Ministers in Fort Good Hope. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 31-15(4): Assistance To Fort Good Hope Flood Victims

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I don't know how many times I have to stand up in this House and assure the Member that I do have a heart and I do care.

Madam Speaker, the sense of urgency for the Fort Good Hope flood has probably passed. There is some consideration from the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation to see if he can go into the community this weekend, providing that his travel schedule allows it. The Member of Parliament, Ethel Blondin-Andrew, has contacted me and is in the community today; she left this morning. Our session schedule doesn't allow me to get into the community. We did try to go to Fort Good Hope. We had scheduled a trip last Saturday with many of our staff and all the people involved around the issue of the flood. We waited at the airport for some period of time to fly out of here, however, the weather was not cooperating and we could not get in. We checked again in the afternoon and the planes still were not allowed to fly into that area, so we had to cancel out. We really apologize for that.

We are in contact with the chief of the community; we are talking with the band council and the SAO. There are a number of issues that are coming forward that are not really directly related to the flood, so we want to try to compile an agenda and set up a schedule to get into the community. We really want to have a sit-down, face-to-face meeting to talk about some of the issues that are coming forward as a result of this flood to see if there are any problems with the whole process. Of course, I had made earlier commitments to go into Colville Lake, so we are trying to see if we can fit that in also. This will probably be my sixth or seventh trip into the Sahtu, so I am getting to know the area fairly well. Thank you.