Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity for Minister Loewen and me to provide Alberta's perspective on the 2024 Jasper wildfire.

I want to begin my remarks by first expressing my thanks to all of the first responders who were out on the front lines during the incident. They put their own well-being on the line to protect Jasper, to help evacuate thousands and to help to rebuild. Their hard work and fearlessness was an inspiration for the whole province, so I do indeed thank them.

I'd also like to express my thanks to the Jasper mayor, Richard Ireland, who displayed tremendous leadership throughout the incident, despite even losing his own home. Thank you, Mayor.

This wildfire season in Alberta was challenging for many communities. We continue to be there, of course, to support our residents as needed. The Government of Alberta contributed to strengthening Jasper's emergency management system through annual reviews of its emergency management plans, training for various operational emergency management functions, advice on bylaw and legislative amendments, functional emergency management exercise support, and, finally, support during the 2024 wildfire.

This contributed to a successful evacuation of Jasper residents. A combined total of 10,000 Jasperites and upwards of 15,000 tourists were evacuated through British Columbia and Alberta to reception centres in Grande Prairie, Edmonton, and Calgary.

I'd also like to extend my thanks to federal Minister LeBlanc, the public safety minister, and Minister Sajjan of Public Safety Canada for their prompt responses to our requests for assistance, and we do indeed thank them. This included, of course, support from the Canadian Armed Forces.

In addition to collaboration at a federal level, Alberta is currently working with the Canadian Red Cross to establish the terms of matching agreements and to provide assistance to those impacted by the Jasper wildfires.

However, I would like to take an opportunity to discuss issues with you regarding the unified command that had control over the jurisdiction during the Jasper crisis.

The fact is that Jasper is surrounded by a national park where the fire originated, presenting a very unique challenge. This challenge was that the park superintendent has oversight for all emergency management decisions for both the park and the municipality. This places the province in a position of being able to certainly influence but not decide, yet the Province of Alberta is responsible for most of the bill with regard to the recovery.

During the crisis, there was a unified command between the town and Parks Canada, wherein each was represented by its own incident commander. With that said, the issue that rises is that the superintendent remains responsible, unless willing to delegate his authorities, responsibilities and accountabilities.

We also had issues on jurisdictional responses to communicating to those who had been evacuated. With all levels of government having defined roles, communicating to Jasper was very difficult. Because of this, the Government of Alberta took it upon itself to organize and hold town halls to keep evacuees informed. The response to these town halls was that they were greatly appreciated by affected residents, who were wanting answers in their time of crisis.

As Alberta's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, I can say that there are two items that could assist Alberta with both Jasper's recovery and with recovery from future disaster events.

First, while the wildfire in Jasper originated within the Jasper National Park, Alberta has approved a disaster recovery program with a budget of about $149 million to support Jasper's recovery. However, under the federal disaster financial assistance arrangements, the DFAA, only a portion of Alberta's costs are eligible for reimbursement, and we certainly ask that the DFAA cost-sharing formula be waived, given that this fire originated in the national park, which is federal jurisdiction. This is a fire that originated in the national park and then spread to the town of Jasper. Therefore, we need to have a discussion on the costs and that the federal government may be responsible for the costs of this fire.

Second, Alberta appreciates the revisions to the DFAA that were announced earlier this year, particularly the increased focus on mitigation and prevention. We would, however, request that the implementation be delayed from the current date of April 1, 2025, to the end of September 2025 to ensure that we're not implementing these changes in the midst of a future disaster. This short delay will also allow us time to change our policies to match the new guidelines and train up our local authority partners on these new guidelines.

In closing, I just want to say thank you to all who are very focused on making sure that we're all working towards a very common goal, which is, of course, the safety and security of Albertans.

I'll hand it back to you, Mr. Chair.

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