Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Given the seriousness of the situation in Nahanni Butte and the residents, I’d like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, who is also in charge of emergency measures, I believe, given the seriousness of the situation, what is the government’s plan moving forward to get the community up and running again? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do plan on assessing the damage that’s in Nahanni Butte. We would like to do an initial assessment and then do a more detailed assessment once the water recedes, and we’ll work with the Member and the community to see how we go on a go-forward basis. There’s obviously going to be a lot of damage there and we need to assess that and work with the community, find out where we can possibly access some money for the community to help them deal with the damages they face. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Given that as well that we were tied up here in Yellowknife doing our budgetary session, I’d like to invite the ministry over to Fort Simpson to meet with the residents and perhaps have a look at the community as well. Thank you.
Thank you. We have committed, or we will commit to going into the community. As a matter of fact, we will go into the community of Nahanni Butte on Monday and we’ll have some senior officials from the different departments that have infrastructure there. We’ll also be joined by our colleague. The honourable Deputy Premier has agreed to accompany them and we’d like to invite the Member and the chief of the community along also. This will give us an initial idea of some of the damage that’s done. As I said before, we’ll be able to go in afterwards and do a follow-up and do a more detailed assessment of the damages in Nahanni Butte. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Of course, the weather and time permitting, I’d like to extend that offer, as well, so that we can meet with the residents that were brave enough to remain in the community, meet with them to see what their needs are and see how we can be helpful. As well, I’m willing to prepare and organize a meeting for the residents that are in Fort Simpson. Perhaps we can meet with them to see their needs, because now it’s actually a long-term issue. So if they’re willing to meet with the residents at both places, I’d be happy. Thank you.
Thank you. We’d be pleased to meet, permitting we’re able to meet with the residents that are still in Nahanni Butte, and then once back in Simpson, I think they’ve committed to meeting with the residents from Nahanni Butte that are in Simpson. So we look forward to that opportunity to have some discussion with them as to some of the plans and how we’re going to move this forward and how we’re going to help them with some of the losses that they’ve suffered. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Emergency Coordinating Committee – I commend them all and everybody involved – that their task was evacuation and safety first. Would this be the same committee that’s looking at the long-term efforts of Nahanni Butte, or will there be a task force set up on how we best manage the relief of the community and restoring the community? Thank you.
Thank you. Again, I’m with the Member. I do commend the work that’s being done by the committee and Nahanni Butte and the residents of Fort Simpson. Obviously, this committee would need to sit down and have a discussion as to some of the ways we can mitigate any further disasters.
The one thing I can point out is the possibility of a new federal government program called the Disaster Mitigation Program. It’s for situations such as these, where communities are prone to flooding. We don’t know the exact details yet. We should have more information by the middle of summer. So once we get that information, we’ll be glad to share it with all Members of this House, and we’ll see how we’re able to access the money to prevent some of these disasters or be more ready for them if they were to happen again. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
