Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for joining us.
First of all, I want to put out an invitation to the minister to come and visit us here in Northwest Territories. I think you would be shocked to see the level of disasters that are happening right across Northwest Territories, and I imagine that for the rest of the north it's the same. We're experiencing extreme drought conditions.
I live on the bank of the Mackenzie River, and it's getting to a point where we can just about walk across the Mackenzie. It used to be referred to as the mighty Mackenzie, and it's a shame that the climate crisis is causing the river to possibly dry up. This is only May, and there's no water. I'm assuming it's part of what's going on in B.C. and Alberta, but it's causing a lot of problems.
As you know, the wildfires that burned across the country last summer were devastating to many of our indigenous communities. Here in Northwest Territories, we evacuated almost 80% of our population.
I'd like you to talk a little bit about how your department assisted indigenous communities to recover from last year's wildfire season and how you're working with communities to prepare for the 2024 season, because the fires have already started here, and we're only in May. I'm scared to imagine what it's going to be like in July. Perhaps you could just speak about wildfires, how our government helped the situation last year and how you're helping to prepare for this year.