Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on August 16th, 2023, the GNWT issued an evacuation notice for Yellowknife, N'dilo, Dettah, and Ingraham Trail residents to leave by noon on Friday, August 18th. This decision was made without consultation with Indigenous government and without even involving all MLAs. Left out were MLA for Tu NedheWiilideh and Monfwi.
After August 18th, the four Tlicho communities were the only ones left in the North Slave. It became clear very fast that the GNWT had no plans on how they were going to provide basic necessities for our communities. There was a huge gap in services across the NWT for shipment of food, access to health and social services, and medical prescriptions. It was like the remaining 15,000 people inside the NWT were just abandoned.
Thankfully, Mr. Speaker, the Tlicho region is selfgoverning and has capacity to fill some of the gaps in services. I want to thank Tlicho government for establishing evacuation centres in the south. They worked hard to find and look after Tlicho citizens who were evacuated, especially the most vulnerable.
I also want to thank the community government, Tlicho Community Services Agency, the friendship centre, and all our local business. The Tlicho Investment Corporation flew groceries out of Edmonton to support the Tlicho communities.
Finally, I want to thank Sutherland Drugs in Yellowknife who stayed open so they could continue to fill people's prescriptions.
Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, I have spoken many times about the need for a Tlicho region separate from North Slave. Creating a separate region would allow us to make better decisions on behalf of our residents and more authority to support our residents' needs, especially during times of emergency. It took days before the GNWT had any meaningful discussions with this region and its leaders. This is the reason why I brought forward Bill 98. We need to move away from the centralized decisionmaking structures that fail to consider the needs of residents outside of Yellowknife.
God willing, I will be part of next Legislative Assembly where I will continue to work for amendments to the Emergency Management Act and the Tlicho region to be established as its own administrative region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Member for Frame Lake.
