Mr. Speaker, southwest Nova Scotia is having the worst drought it has seen in many years. This summer a forest fire destroyed 400 hectares of woodland in South Shore—St. Margarets and West Nova, and it raged for days.
Not all of my hon. colleagues may know this, but in much of rural Nova Scotia, firefighters are all volunteers and put in countless hours of training in preparing to keep our forests, families, and communities safe.
Volunteers worked around the clock for days, not only battling the fire but also supporting the firefighters. Volunteers fundraised, collected donations, and made sure that our volunteer firefighters were fed and hydrated. Many local businesses continued to pay their employees while they were fighting these fires.
The fire was eventually contained, our beloved Kejimkujik National Park was saved, and nobody was injured. I would like to ask all members of the House to join me in thanking our volunteer fire services and the communities that support them.