Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So that thought was given, but this is part of implementing the recommendations of the after-action review. There's already people doing some of this work off the side of their desks, and it's to essentially give this priority -- or give this a priority to implement the after-action review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you. So what exactly will this department do? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, just implementing the after-action review and all the recommendations that are essentially being approved. And I will just ask the deputy minister to add some remarks to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, so some of the more detailed work, adding to what the Minister already said, includes we have working groups with the NWT Council of Leaders. We have working groups with community governments as represented by NWTAC and LGANT. And there's lots of consultation that we need to do around the review of the Emergency Management Act. Our Indigenous government partners have indicated that they want more of a role and be partners in the emergency management, so we need to understand what that means. And so there'll be lots of consultation going on with those partners as well, working with our community governments, identifying some of the comments that they've made as well about improvements that need to be made to the emergency management system. And then, of course, updating the legislation and, you know, the policies that go along with that as well. So all that work will be undertaken by this unit. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from the Deh Cho.
Thank you. Thank you for that information.
The other question I have is I know there's a lot of seniors in my riding or in my communities that are getting tax arrears from lands that they have lived on for years, and now we're getting -- they didn't have tax arrears before and then all of a sudden they're getting -- they're getting arrears for taxes into the thousands of dollars. So these people have lived in the communities all their life and then recently started getting these taxing -- these tax arrear notices. So I want to ask about that. What's going to happen with that? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So with the taxes, that's related to the municipality and they're within the municipal boundaries. So they set their tax rates, and then they do their billings and stuff for the taxes within the municipal boundaries. Yeah, from there, it's however the community handles it to take the tax payments on the municipal lands. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from the Deh Cho.
Specifically seniors, people over -- I don't know -- what does the government classify as seniors here, 55 or 65? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just confirming here, but the seniors legislation that we have for land taxes only covers a portion of it. It's up to the municipality for the other portion. So that might be the issue is that there's not a full coverage of land taxes within municipalities. It's up to the municipality. And, again, that's related to within municipal boundaries with it up to the municipality on how they collect their taxes from seniors. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from the Deh Cho.
All right, so I need some kind of -- I guess I need some level of certainty that the seniors will not be put in a really bad place that they cannot afford to pay their land -- the land taxes in the community. So I am not sure what to ask the Minister other than to say that I -- you know, I really don't want to see the seniors being put in a not good position because of the land taxes. So I am not sure what to ask for right now. Can we just -- can the Minister -- maybe I could just ask -- the Minister can get back to me on -- or can we have a conversation about this at another time? Yes, thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I can meet with the Member, and we can explain the seniors tax program that the GNWT has and how the communities implement it. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. Is there any further questions from the Deh Cho?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No further questions, thank you.
Thank you. Is there any further questions from Members? I am going to go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay, well, with reference to some of the positions two of my colleagues mentioned, talked about, the two jobs that were created. You know, with the mine closing, just letting you know -- or maybe you're aware of it -- but you know that Tlicho communities -- Tlicho region is going to be the hardest hit because all our -- a lot of our young people, all of -- many of our people are -- you know, are employed, and we're going to need more jobs. That's why I am advocating -- I would like to see more jobs advocated -- I mean, I would like to see more jobs transferred to -- created or transferred to Tlicho region. And I am sure my colleagues over there across from us are listening too. We're nearby. But how do you tell a person who worked over 20 years to go on income support? So that's why I am asking that, you know -- like, I am really advocating to have more jobs transferred to Tlicho region. So at the end of this job, you said it's for two years, will the Minister commit to having these two jobs transferred to Tlicho region? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, some of these positions are specialized positions, not necessarily just anybody can fill them, people with backgrounds in emergency management or stuff like that. So this is a term position. After two years, these positions are done. So I mean, transferring them to the Tlicho region would just end in a couple of years anyway. So, you know, I appreciate the comments by the Member. The impacts of the closures will affect every community in the Northwest Territories, so. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Monfwi.
So what you're saying is that you're saying my people cannot do this job, it's a specialized job; is that what you're saying? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I did not say that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go back to the Member for Monfwi.
Okay, so, well, I am going to get away from that because I already got the message.
You know, with this community operations, regional operations, I know we passed the funding formula. We don't have a breakdown of what each community is getting. Will the Minister -- I would like to know how much of this regional operations money is coming to Tlicho region. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So we provided that a few times in committees, and then also just recently I sent out an email to all the Members with community fact sheets that have all the communities with their formula funding on there and what they're receiving. So all the information the Member's asking for has been shared previously and shared with all the Members. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I've just been informed that regional activity information will be coming up shortly. So if we could just continue on with pages 348 and 349. Thank you.
I will go back to the Member for Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Yes, but it would be nice for next time that if it's part of this budget, so that way we don't have to ask about it all the time. But in the community, the regional operation and community operations, in small communities -- with the mine closing, you know, we're going to be needing more jobs, more employment. I know that the money that's allocated in small communities where if the money is allocated based on infrastructure, small communities are going to be losing out. In small communities like the community I represent, it's going to lose out even though we're the largest Dene community is Behchoko. And we're going to lose out on lots of this operation -- community operation money. We know that services such as water, sewer, garbage, waste management, they're all essential services, and it needs to be funded adequately. But right now we're not getting enough where there is a disruption with the service delivery. So for that reason, that's why I am saying that, you know, like with the mine closure, will the Minister commit to revisit and do another funding formula to calculate -- to change the funding formula that goes to the small communities. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair, and appreciate the comments. First of all, there was a lot of work done in that funding formula that we had, and the recommendation came from a working group established by the NWTAC, which had all the communities involved. So this was implemented last year to basically establish -- although not enough funding, obviously, we know that already. But it was established to, you know, distribute the funds fairly and equitably across all the communities. Every community is impacted, every community is underfunded, so we're all feeling -- all the communities are feeling similar pains with infrastructure deficits and lack of funding. And that's not only in the Northwest Territories, it's across Canada. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member for Monfwi.
Okay. For the record, I want to ask the Minister did Tlicho communities, the leaders, agree to the funding formula that's before us? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There's a working group formed, and there's ongoing discussions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. You know, there's some regional allocation. There's 70 for the upcoming fiscal year -- 72 jobs. Five in North Slave, and there's Tlicho. I thought we were a part of North Slave. I thought Tlicho was part of North Slave and here it's -- there's three in Tlicho region. So can the Minister tell me, are these active positions? Are they fully active? Are they filled? Are they indeterminate positions? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Those are indeterminate positions, that's correct. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go back to the Member for Monfwi.
Can the Minister tell me where are these jobs situated? I represent four communities.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those MACA positions are in Behchoko.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
