Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to dedicate my Member’s statement to the residents of Nahanni Butte and the community of Fort Simpson, who is reaching out to help them in this time of need. I just wanted to say that even though we are calling an evacuation and flood of Nahanni Butte, I believe that conditions are worse than we think, worse than we thought, especially with the recent media report, that damage cannot be understated.
I was searching for a word last night and this morning, but I think the word that I am looking for is a “disaster” at Nahanni Butte at this point. The power plant may be damaged. The airport is out and has been flooded. The highway is gone. There are no phone lines. The band office has been flooded as well as many homes. I just want to state that we as a government are going to have to reach out, plan for how to best help the residents, give them every support that they need, and over it all we can’t forget that the residents themselves miss their homes, lives and livelihoods. We are going to have to plan, and mitigate, and best try to return them to their homes.
Later on today in oral questions, I will be asking the MACA Minister or other appropriate Minister, as well, how and what steps are we taking to help the residents of Nahanni Butte to help plan and get through this disaster. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
