Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to thank the residents of the riding of Prince Albert for re-electing me as their member of Parliament.
As members of the House are aware, my home province of Saskatchewan is experiencing one of the worst starts to the wildfire season on record. More than half a million hectares have been burned, and as of Sunday afternoon, 20 communities remained under evacuation orders. Fifteen active wildfires are forcing residents from communities such as Timber Bay, Hall Lake and Pelican Narrows to flee their homes.
Premier Scott Moe recently spoke about the value of developing a national investment strategy, one where critical resources, such as air tankers, can be owned by the country and shared across jurisdictions to meet the surge capacity when and where needed. It is about protecting our communities, our forests and our future.
I thank the firefighters and emergency personnel, who are putting themselves at great risk to protect our communities.
Please, let us all pray for rain.