My question is for the Government Representative. A year ago, as we discussed in this chamber before, the Little Red River Cree Nation and the community of Fox Lake were devastated by wildfire. A month ago, I asked you about the challenges that the community faced because of the warm winter and the repeated flooding of ice bridges by BC Hydro. The community was able to bring in almost no supplies to rebuild in the wake of that fire.

I have a fresh question for you today. On Thursday, the band council met and declared a local state of emergency. On Friday, they sent a heartbreaking letter petitioning the government for assistance in dealing with the fact that, in the last six months, there have been six suicides, two homicides and numerous suicide attempts. The community is gripped by gang violence and drug addiction. They are asking for help.

What response might you have for a community that is asking for help with mental health, drug addiction and gang suppression?

Thank you very much. As we discussed last month, one of the additional challenges facing the nation is that new Transport Canada rules mean that they cannot use their barges to bring in federal workers. No RCMP officers can come by barge over the river; no federally funded health care workers can come by barge over the river. I have been attempting to obtain a response from Transport Canada regarding that situation for a month now. Can you update us with anything?