Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of ENR explain the last time that the NWT Fire Centre has received any major updates to its operations facility? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For that detail, I'll have to get back to the Member, because that involves a lot of work with the department to get that information. I'll make that commitment to reach out to the department and get that information for her. Thank you.
Can the Minister explain when the last time an evaluation was conducted to determine whether the Government of the Northwest Territories is providing our firefighters with the best resources available for addressing wildfires?
Every year, our department works with our firefighters to get there, but I think maybe the Member is talking about the facility itself. With the facility itself, there was a planning study done and a design in place, and a new facility has been identified, where the land is going to be, so there are drawings and there is a plan in place right now.
Can the Department of ENR confirm whether the NWT does, in fact, have the latest technologies and equipment that is needed in addressing the wildfire safety of all of our communities and resources?
We do have the equipment that we need right now. Can we get the most modern technology? That would be great, but right now the existing material that we have and the equipment that we have, and our staff is amazing, they're recognized internationally and nationally and they do get asked to be out there. So, right now, we do have the equipment we need right now. Could we have more? Yes. It would be great if we had the most modern, but, right now, we have the existing equipment that we need for them to do their job.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary, Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, I know that ENR staff are amazing. Does the Department of ENR consider it a priority to update and upgrade the current Territorial Fire Centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member will be very happy to hear that, yes, we agree it is important. What we're doing is we're looking to find the funding, because we have a whole bunch of priorities in this government of the Northwest Territories and there are a lot of competing needs within our infrastructure needs, but we are working outside the government, as well, to see if we can find that funding to help get this facility upgraded to its needed state that the Member has been advocating for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
