Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of discussion in this House and across the Northwest Territories about the 2023 wildfire season. The territory experienced its worst wildfire season last year, with a record amount of land burned and the most impact on residents and individual homes, businesses, and cabin owners. Severe drought conditions, record high temperatures, and extreme wind events resulted in fire behaviour unlike anything our most experienced firefighters have ever seen before. Other jurisdictions like British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Nova Scotia also experienced record fire seasons and faced the same challenges we did, and in many cases with even greater impacts and losses.
Mr. Speaker, the residents of the Northwest Territories had a front row seat to the 2023 wildfire season, seeing what happened in their own communities and watching it unfold across the NWT through the news and social media. Everyone had their own unique firsthand experiences, and I know many people have questions. Given my personal role and extensive experience in wildfire management, I feel it is important to help people better understand how we manage wildfires in the territory.
The NWT has a wellestablished wildfire management program supported by highlytrained, experienced, and dedicated crews, wildfire experts, and support staff. We work closely with wildfire agencies across Canada and share resources and expertise with each other as needed through mutual aidsharing agreements. Last summer, many firefighters from the NWT's northern communities spent multiple rotations in the southern NWT and over 1,000 people came to the NWT to help with our response.
It is important to note that fire is a natural and important part of our ecosystem and is essential to keeping our forests healthy. A natural wildfire regime results in a patchwork of forest ages, which is important to support the wildlife that rely on it, and limit the size and spread of future fires.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT does not have a let it burn policy. All new fires receive a response. Decisions on which fires to actively manage are made by experienced wildfire managers based on the need to protect values at risk while allowing fire to play its important role in our ecosystem.
Over the past 30 years, 109 fires were successfully put out in the areas around Enterprise. Within the same period, 104 fires were extinguished in the area that burned toward Behchoko last summer. In 2023, a combination of builtup fuels and the extreme and unprecedented conditions we experienced resulted in wildfires that were too extreme to control. We will always work to put out fires close to communities but fighting every fire is not the answer. Fighting all fires that are not threatening values at risk results in the buildup of forest fuels which can lead to larger fires in the future that are extremely difficult to control. We saw this happen near several communities last summer.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT's forest fire management policy guides all decisions and approaches to wildfire management. It includes a value at risk system that prioritizes responses to wildfires based on the protection of human life first, followed by the protection of property, critical infrastructure, and other values such as cultural sites and key caribou habitat. This policy was developed collaboratively over a threeyear period. Its development included engagement with every forested community in the NWT and was led by a working group that included Indigenous governments and organizations, GNWT departments, and other stakeholders. While this policy is over 30 years old, its principles remain valid today.
The Department of Environment and Climate Change's wildfire management approach includes a strong emphasis on community collaboration and using all available local, Indigenous, and scientific knowledge to inform wildfire management decisions. I can reassure residents of the Northwest Territories that every fire was assessed last summer, and every fire that posed a threat to communities or value at risk was actioned. We faced very challenging conditions that grounded aircraft and crews at times, and we experienced extreme fire behaviour that was sometimes too dangerous to put crews in front of. Despite these challenges, we did everything possible to fight these fires and protect our communities.
Mr. Speaker, Environment and Climate Change is working closely with communities to prepare for the 2024 wildfire season. Regional and headquarter staff continue to meet with community governments, Indigenous governments, and the public in every forested community. We are working with communities to update their wildfire protection plans and implement wildfire prevention and mitigation measures like FireSmart projects. Managing fire at the forest and urban interface is a shared responsibility, and it is critical that we work together.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude for the tremendous work done by our wildfire management team, fire crews, communities, contractors, and others who protected our residents and our communities last summer. I am confident that they will be ready to face the challenges for the next fire season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
