Madam Speaker, I have a question for the minister. He will know that British Columbia has been seriously affected by the forestry crisis and also by the mountain pine beetle devastation that has affected many communities in British Columbia. My question is specifically about first nations communities in British Columbia.
There are 103 first nations communities within the pine beetle devastation area. These communities are very concerned about their ongoing safety. They are concerned about the forest fire danger to their communities. They have been waiting for federal government money to be transferred to the province of British Columbia to assist them in planning around the forest fire danger, setting up firebreaks around their communities, planning evacuations, and all those kinds of things.
Unfortunately, the province has not received the money from the federal government yet to do that. It has made pitches directly to the federal government for that funding, for $20 million to start that work immediately, and $5 million for ongoing work. These are communities that are concerned about their very existence should forest fires break out in this pine beetle devastation area.
My question is, what is the delay? Should people have any confidence in the ability of the government to deliver assistance to forestry communities when it is not being delivered on this very basic issue?