Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is on the condition of firefighting equipment in the communities. Our small, remote communities are ill-equipped to fight fires. The approach our community fire departments are now taking is to let fires burn and to just control it. Our communities have no offensive and defensive capabilities, and that is unacceptable. Considering that the small, remote communities that are most susceptible to house fires have the highest number of deaths per capita all over Canada, you’d think this government would be working with local fire marshals and various funding sources to develop real funding for each community.
When I toured my communities during my last constituency tour, the Sachs Harbour hamlet foreman took me for a tour of the garage, where an outdated fire truck sat in cold storage and was last inspected in 1984. The last time the garage was needed for repairs, valves for the truck were broken. I spoke to the mayor, Yvonne Elias, that the community consistently worries, knowing that they don’t have a fire truck in the event of a fire. That’s unacceptable. Sachs Harbour could not include vital services in their capital plan due to struggles with their ongoing problems with the rec complex. Paulatuk has some old firefighting gear, as they could not afford all new. Ulukhaktok has the same situation: outdated firefighter’s gear.
Why is this government continuing to place firefighting services in small, remote communities on the back burner? I’ve visited all my communities enough to know the communities desperately need an overhaul in their fire equipment. I’m especially concerned with the lack of equipment and resources for each community. Firefighters entering a house, searching for somebody, could get trapped without proper equipment. They could seriously get hurt.
I hope the community firefighters in the NWT will have experience, and if they do, we must equip them. They are risking their lives to serve and protect the communities. The least we can do is train and equip them properly.
I’ll have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
