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From YouTube: JULY 13 2020 Statements Coralee Oakes
Description
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
5th Session
41st Parliament
A
Or
a
caribou
ignoring
Lin
today,
I
pay
tribute
and
acknowledge
the
incredible
work
of
our
volunteer
first
responders,
fire
departments
and
Fire
Brigades
caribou
North
constituents
are
fortunate
to
have
these
incredible
volunteers
in
our
communities.
They
are
there
for
us
when
we
need
them
at
our
often
our
most
difficult
time.
A
In
the
words
of
the
mcLeese
lake
volunteer,
fire
department
volunteer
fire
departments
in
rural
areas,
supplies
so
much
in
the
ways
of
service,
including
public
information
and
education,
Disaster,
Response
and
emergency
operations,
in
addition
to
firefighting,
wildland
protection,
first
responder
and
traffic
control
to
the
otherwise
unprotected
areas.
In
other
words,
when
an
emergency
happens
in
our
rural
communities,
we
depend
on
these
incredible
volunteers.
A
Many
of
these
departments
and
small
unincorporated
areas
they
raise
revenues
through
bottle,
drives
and
garage
sales
and
grants,
and,
like
so
many
other
organizations,
kovat
19,
has
had
an
impact
on
the
revenue.
These
departments
depend
on
to
pay
their
insurance,
purchase,
equipment
or
training
and
ensure
that
all
their
members
are
trained
according
to
the
requirements
of
the
BC
WS
to
the
training
standards
and
protocols
established
also
by
the
BC
EHS.
A
In
the
words
of
the
likely
Volunteer,
Fire
and
Rescue
Service
that,
if
they
did
not
exist,
community
members
in
rural
areas
could
be
waiting
up
to
two
hours
for
any
kind
of
response.
I
personally
cannot
imagine
how
our
communities
would
have
managed
without
their
assistance
during
the
devastating
wildfires
of
2017
and
2018,
and
now
over
the
last
few
years,
with
the
flooding
that
we've
experienced
at
a
time
when
experienced
in
our
region
demonstrates
how
important
these
volunteer
organizations
are.
A
We
are
also
experiencing
a
gradual
withdrawal
of
government
support
as
the
most
recent
decision
by
the
caribou
regional
districts
decision
to
withdraw,
grant
support
to
independent
fire
departments
due
to
concerns
of
liability
around
a
piece
of
provincial
legislation
as
the
MLA
for
caribou
north
I
call
on
all
levels
of
government
to
recognize,
acknowledge
and
support
our
volunteer
first
responders.
Fire
departments
and
Fire
Brigades.