Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in support of this motion. My support doesn't come from a personal grievance, but I have to stand up for the people of the Northwest Territories. I know that a debate like this will risk becoming a painful, combative experience, but I am confident that this Assembly can raise above that to make the best possible decisions in the Northwest Territories.

What do I want to see come from this debate? I am looking for accountability. I want to see respect toward this side of the House and questions answered. I want residents' concerns to be heard and...

I greatly appreciate the Minister's answer to that, and I'm very excited about the department working on their asset management, getting a longer life out of our facilities, and making sure they work better. I applaud the department for doing that. Has the department done any calculations or projections to determine the cumulative shortfall of the funding gap since 2016, and what is the amount of funding gap right now?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I did a Member's statement on the funding gap for municipal governments. My questions will be for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Can the Minister advise us what amount of the annual funding gap at the beginning of this Assembly, what is the gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories, community governments can provide municipal services to our residents who rely on annual core funding from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs for their operation and maintenance needs. This funding also allows them to provide vital water and sewer services to community residents and build public infrastructure.

At the start of the Legislative Assembly, the Government of the Northwest Territories acknowledged that there is a gap between the core funding needs of the community governments and the level of funding...

Mr. Chair, clause 2 of Bill 18 adds a new section to the Cities, Towns and Villages Act that allows tax-based municipalities to levy a tax on tourism accommodations. Under clause 2, the new section 70.1(5) provides a list of exemptions, that is, a list of types of accommodations or classes for the persons and organizations who may be exempt from paying the tax. These include accommodations rented for more than 30 days, accommodations costing less than $20 per night, the Government of the Northwest Territories and its public boards and agencies, a person and his or her family being accommodated...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge two of my constituents from Fort Liard, Mr. Armand Bertrand and Mr. Frank Lomen.

Mr. Bertrand will be 85 years young on November 2nd, and Mr. Lomen will be 90 years young on January 1, 2019. I would like to extend my best wishes to Mr. Bertrand and Mr. Lomen as they celebrate their birthdays. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I apologize. I took the whole 10 minutes. I was hoping not to.

The GNWT decided that they are not going to tax themselves, but we are going to tax the residents of the Northwest Territories with this fee. Is that what you are telling me? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members in this House heard, we had an accident at the Nahanni Butte airport on August 15, 2018. I'm very happy to say that all the individuals directly involved with the crash are safe and were discharged from the hospital. I'm very happy to hear the collaboration between the community health representative in Nahanni Butte, and the healthcare practitioners in Fort Simpson and Yellowknife work very well together. It is good to hear that telehealth and our telephone systems work well. The community of Nahanni Butte and the GNWT health staff did an amazing job and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I'm just disappointed. It's either or all. If you're going to exempt the GNWT, then we could be exempting all residents of the Northwest Territories. It's a tourism tax; that's what I am reading. It says tourism accommodation tax; that's what it is. So you mean that, for our sporting teams, they're now considered tourists coming into the capital to participate? Can the Minister please elaborate on that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank our law clerk for that information. I greatly appreciate that. One of my big concerns, though, is that this is going to be a tax on residents of the Northwest Territories. It's another tax on the residents of the Northwest Territories. It's no different than the airport improvement fee tax; people have to pay that. The smaller communities, it doesn't sound like a lot of money, but you look at it, you stay here for five days, that's $15; you fly in here, that could be X amount of dollars. So all of a sudden, you're looking at an additional $50, $60, $80, added to their cost of living...