Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight the significant progress being made by NWT community governments in planning and building the infrastructure they need to deliver quality programs and services within their communities.

Since 2007 when most NWT communities took on responsibility for the planning, design and construction of their community public infrastructure through the New Deal, we have seen impressive results. Community governments are provided with capital formula funding from the GNWT that they can use to bank, invest and leverage other sources of funding so...

Mr. Speaker, usually the process is they would fill out an application for each program that they apply to. The only one that I know of that they don’t have to apply to every year -- their name is basically kept on the list -- is the Seniors Preventative Home Maintenance Program. Once they’re on that list, then they would just continue to receive the service year after year. But as far as I know, they do have to apply for each particular program. The Member is correct, though, the senior’s income usually doesn’t change very much and we may have to take that into consideration. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member makes a valid point and I think it’s a concern that we’ve heard on a few occasions. If there is an issue with the fact that some of the elders in his riding are unable to understand the letters, then I think we can work with the band or whoever we need to, to make sure they have a very good understanding of the letters so then they’d be able to respond back to the department. Thank you.

The Member is correct; the communities do have the option of hiring whoever they want to assist with their project, and that funding does come out of the capital money that’s advanced to the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When a community has a project that they are working on, they require assistance from MACA. Our regional staff will go into the community at their request and assist them in working out their capital plans and also advising them of funding and anything else, any other help that they might need, then the community would take it from there. We are available from the regional office to assist the communities. Thank you.

I think the first part of the Member’s question, if I understood it correctly, was wastewater and the new standards. Obviously that is a concern, because if they were to impose a new standard on us, I think that we all realize that it would be a multimillion dollar investment. We could never expect the communities to try and fund that. Even as a territorial government it would be awfully difficult for us. So they would obviously have to pony up some money for us to impose these new standards on the communities, especially with the possibility of that changing.

As far as water treatment plants...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct. There was a discussion paper put out for some input into some of the proposed amendments to the Elections Act. We are assessing some of the results of the questions that were proposed out there, and we are just preparing a draft report and we are hoping to have that done fairly soon, so we can share that with the Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Disaster mitigation is one of the requirements of applying for…There are many pots of money out there. If there is a disaster in the community, I know for a fact that we wouldn’t leave it to the community to deal with the effects of that disaster. We would do whatever we can to find monies to help them. Applications could be put in for some federal money, Building Canada project. There was an opportunity there for them to seek some money from there and then they match it.

I don’t mean to keep harping on this, but am I the only one in this building that has confidence in...

Mr. Speaker, this project was taken on by the community and they identified it as a priority. They funded the project themselves, using their capital infrastructure dollars that are provided by MACA. They are the project manager and they took care of all the arrangements, so they do have an idea of the issues that are affecting the opening of the community complex. My understanding is that they are taking steps to try to address some of these issues so they can have it opened fairly soon. Thank you.

I am not sure if there was a question there. I think it was more of a comment. As I said, we appreciate the Member’s comments and his concern for the welfare of the small communities.