Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have stood in this House and have spoke about the symbiotic relationship between between GNWT and private industry. We have a fundamental need for the sustainability of private industry. Its growth and prosperity is a true indicator of a healthy economic environment.
Here in Yellowknife, we saw firsthand how reliant governments are on private industry. Our private industry is the backbone of this territory and showed up in a big way as business and public servants worked together to fire smart this town.
A healthy territory relies on a vibrant private sector which isn't only a reliance on the businesses deemed essential and able to stay. We rely on hundreds of business from medium corporations and limited liability companies to small and homebased businesses that collectively serve residents and government.
Mr. Speaker, our businesses are hurting. Many have said evacuations hit harder than COVID. Hay River businesses experienced three evacuations in a year and a half, South Slave operators saw significant weeks of evacuations. Some South Slave businesses lost everything. And even with the three weeks of evacuation here in Yellowknife, without infrastructure loss, cost financial shortfalls of $20,000 in some and well over hundreds of thousands in others.
Mr. Speaker, the income disruption policy is not reflective of northern wages and owners don't qualify. The SEED relief covers some monthly expenses but is capped at $5,000 as is the BDIC WARM funding. I have heard some people say that businesses should have had insurance, but business insurance does not cover natural disasters or pandemics. Multiple Kam Lake businesses continue to pay salaries or allowances to staff out of a personal duty of loyalty and care for their employees. With no billable hours, this caused incredible hardship for those employers.
Mr. Speaker, in a nation with a labour shortage, these employers need their staff to return to Yellowknife to continue to fulfill fall contracts. And this government needs those residents to come home too. Some businesses, without the cash flow to continue to pay salary, lost staff who couldn't weather the uncertainty of an evacuation, some have cancelled contracts or shifted business operations, driving summer work into winter months with greater costs while others work on an exit plan, Mr. Speaker. This means we have not yet experienced the actual fire season cost as the dominoes continue to fall in private industry. Businesses need to save for a rainy day they say but this is not a rainy day, Mr. Speaker. These are the impacts of unmitigated climate change on a territory without a viable aspirational plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
