Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Drowning is the second leading cause of preventable death for children under 10 years of age in Canada. We can, we must, we need to do what is right, and not what is easy, to prevent further tragedy at our territorial park beaches.
In reference to my Member’s statement earlier today, I wanted to ask the Minister responsible for territorial beaches to do the right thing and bring our lifeguards back.
Since many of us have not read the soon-to-be tabled report from the Lifesaving Society of Alberta, could the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment quickly walk us through some of the highlights that he shared earlier today in a press release, so that he can ease the minds of many concerned about water safety at our territorial beach parks? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We didn’t just react when the tragic occurrence happened at the Fred Henne beach here in Yellowknife earlier this summer. There is a process. We got the Lifesaving Society of Alberta to get involved and provide an audit at both Fred Henne beach and also the beach in Hay River. The report on the beach in Hay River will be coming out later this fall. Certainly, there are a number of recommendations contained in the report that will lead to a much safer beach and waterfront at Fred Henne Territorial Park. That is fundamental to all of this, is we want to ensure that we have, as much as possible, the safest beaches that we can here in the Northwest Territories.
The report by the Lifesaving Society of Alberta looked at a beach and provided recommendations for a beach that was unsupervised. That’s not to say that we aren’t going to be looking at the feasibility of putting lifeguards at Fred Henne beach next summer. That is something that I will commit to, to taking a look at. We are going to again employ the services of the Lifesaving Society of Alberta to help us with that study on lifeguards.
There is a lot more to it than simply putting lifeguards on the beach at Fred Henne. We have to look at the swimming area. It’s going to impact, potentially, the hours of operation, the access to that beach. Before we do that, we have some time here this winter to ensure that we get this right. We also want to have some public consultation take place on how the public feels if we have to look at reduction in the hours of access to that swimming area, the reduced swimming area. These are things that take some time. We are going to ensure, and I give my commitment again today to the House, that we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that that beach is as safe as possible. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all Yellowknife residents, I accept the commitment, but we also hope that there is action behind that.
Let’s start with an easy question for the Minister today. It has been documented, You Tubed and in the media a number of times now, the issue of the dangerous holes in the swimming area just 30 metres from the shoreline of Long Lake beach. We’ve heard that, due to shifting sand, they could be filled, but we have been encouraged that warning buoys in the water could be used.
Could the Minister once and for all tell the people of Yellowknife exactly how he is going to solve the issue of the holes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, one of those ideas could be to reduce the swimming area. The Lifesaving Society, in conducting the audit, I believe there were divers out there who had masks and snorkels and surveyed the ground under the water at the beach. A lot of this they believe is caused by the way the lake moves and whether or not you fill those holes in one day, they may in fact be there a few weeks later.
There are ways we can mark those holes if they are there. We wouldn’t want to have a swimming area where there were these holes and opportunities for people to get into an area that was with water that was over their head. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I think people are feeling a bit more comfortable that this issue will definitely be addressed in the summer of 2014.
If the Minister is not going to support beach lifeguards in the immediate future, it is clear from the current volunteer group, Lifeguards for Lodune, that liability is their main concern and continues to remain as their number one issue.
What is the Minister willing to do to assist this volunteer group? We have bona fide First Aid volunteers, policies, procedures and a soon-to-be board of directors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we are going to look at lifeguards, putting in proper lifeguard services at Fred Henne Park, and I’ve made a commitment to do that. If that is the case, I still believe there would be a role and a function for a group such as Lifeguards for Lodune to be involved, perhaps as safe water practice ambassadors or helping out in various capacities. That all remains to be seen, what role and function a group like that could have, but our anticipation is to continue the dialogue with that group and certainly we would like to fit them into the plans going forward in some capacity. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment here. The true test of this Minister will be his willingness to defy the bureaucracy of the ivory tower and rule in a way that many remember him as a Regular Member.
Will this Minister commit to this House officially, and to the volunteers of Lifeguards for Lodune and to the people of Yellowknife, whether he works with the City of Yellowknife or not, to re-establish a Long Lake beach lifeguard program for the summer of 2014 and thereafter? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have been in politics now for about 16 years and I do pride myself on being able to make the right decisions. In the case of having lifeguards at Fred Henne Park, I’ve committed to doing my best to ensure that we get all the answers. It’s not an issue of funding and it shouldn’t be an issue of funding. If it is going to make Fred Henne beach safer, there will be lifeguards at that beach next summer. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
