Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, about two years ago, the Auditor General of Canada tabled his report entitled "Support for Communities for Municipal Services in the Northwest Territories." That report was basically highlighting 13 recommendations. The critical piece of the report was that MACA did not adequately help communities. In the case in Fort Providence, where we have a community volunteer fire department, what role does MACA have in supporting and establishing and maintaining a local fire department? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Coming out of that report, there were some highlights, and MACA will continue to work with the key partners as well as our hamlets to develop and maintain the fire protection services for Northwest Territories communities. With that said, I just want to say that, as the Member made congratulations to his volunteer firefighters in his community, I want to thank all the volunteers across the Northwest Territories for their commitment to keeping our communities safe.
We have also done a creative assessment tool across the Northwest Territories. Currently, we have 19 community fire department assessments that have been completed to date. It addresses what is working, what challenges there are, any inadequacies. With that, we are able to come up with a fire protection plan that identifies short- and long-term goals for the community. We will continue to put those assessment tools in place with all communities across the Northwest Territories and are willing to work with our hamlets and municipalities on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister stated that they will continue to work with hamlets. Of course, this is the Government of the Northwest Territories and this is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Who is responsible for fire protection services? Is it this government through MACA, or is it the local governments?
Right now, it is just the local governments that are responsible. We provide the support. We provide the training, as the Member alluded to in his Member's statement. From May 25th to May 27th, we had a Part I defensive-level firefighter course that took place. I believe there is going to be a follow-up coming in June. We continue to work with all our municipal governments to ensure that fire protection plans are in place for the community, and we do provide the supports.
We also have a community fire protection video as well as a presentation, which we have done in 18 community government presentations that have been conducted to date. As I mentioned, this is a responsibility of the local governments. We are here to provide the support to ensure that they are operating at a high standard and with the right training available to make sure that our communities are protected and kept safe.
In some communities, the fire departments have been rendered non-response departments. They have been put on hold, and there are no fire protection services available to the community. He has stated very clearly that his department is providing support. How is his department providing support to local governments to ensure their level of fire protection services is available for all residents of the NWT?
If the community or the hamlet has a fire chief, we will work with them to help them develop a volunteer fire team where volunteer firefighters will provide the training and the support for those volunteer firefighters to get the proper training that they need. We will also work with the SAOs of the hamlets in terms of working to get these fire protection plans in place, but also get the right training for the volunteer firefighters.
As I mentioned, we have developed a fire department assessment tool that helps us to identify any, like I said, inadequacies or any challenges that need to be taken into account to help develop that fire protection plan for the community. We are willing to work with all the communities across the Northwest Territories to ensure that each community has a fire department, has a fire protection plan in place should something happen in that community.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for his replies, as well. Could the Minister outline to the House in terms of a target or a specific timeline that his department has of ensuring that all 33 communities, at least, have local fire departments and fire protection measures in place? Mahsi.
Right now, we can't really set a timeline based on the resources that some of these communities have. As I mentioned, we have a fire protection action planning tool, as well, that was developed in 2017. It identifies priority activities, monitors progress, works toward a safe, effective, sustainable fire service. We have 13 community action plans under that planning tool.
We will continue to work with the NWTAC LGANT as well as the NWT Fire Association. We will be meeting with them at their upcoming general meeting 2018 to give them an update and see how we can work together collaboratively to address some of these communities that don't have either a fire protection plan or an adequate fire service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
