Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I mentioned when we went before standing committee, there are going to be some positions that need to be put in place, so we're going to be looking at emergency medical dispatchers, an emergency system officer, a manager, as well as premiums for shift work that people will have to do. There are also ongoing operation costs, such as program requirements of, for example, leasing spaces, communication, and obviously our information technology systems. Then obviously there are going to be one-time start-up costs that are initial training, as well as signage. I could give...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Obviously, all of our communities in the Northwest Territories, we have been approaching. The designated authorities are one of them. With our gas tax, we have been focused on making sure that they have the same opportunities as tax-based communities and municipalities. So, obviously, we are reaching out to all of our 33 communities, and this is something, concerns from the Member but probably some concerns from our leadership, that we will be having discussions with this weekend. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The evaluation process for the NGO Stabilization Fund would and will include interviews with and input by previous applicants, whether they were successful or unsuccessful. That is something that we heard clearly during the business plan review. We are hoping that this review will be completed by early summer, and any changes, potential changes, to the policy would obviously take effect in the next fiscal year. We did hear committee's concerns. We appreciate that committee did support and supports the program and that you are happy that we did get an increase for this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 2019-2020 Main Estimates for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Overall, the department's main estimates propose an increase of $3,236,000 from the 2018-2019 Main Estimates, which is a 3 percent increase.

The 2019-2020 Main Estimates reflect:

an increase of $111,000 to support the need for increased grants in lieu of property taxes payments to community governments; and

an increase of $1,400,000 for community governments to support their operational needs and the delivery of water and sewer services, which continues our support to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will continue to keep this as a priority and a focus within the department. As I had mentioned, this is something that we will continue to work with and get that information out of how many concerns that have we have had. I did tell the Member that we will get that information to all Members and see how many complaints that we get every year. We will also work with our regional offices to get this information out on consumer protection for our consumers, to let them know what they are entitled to. Like any other program, I think this is one that needs to be looked at...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is right. There is an agreement with the Government of Canada to support the Flood and Shoreline Erosion Mitigation Plan for the community of Tuktoyaktuk under the National Disaster Mitigation Program. We continue to work with the federal government and, as I mentioned, I was at an FTP meeting not too long ago where we were focusing on trying to get more support for some of these types of federal dollars. I do believe that it should be completed in March. Obviously, we just had a new election in Tuktoyaktuk not too long ago, and we are just getting their new...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to inform the Member and all Members that we are strongly advocating for this asset management in all the communities, and all the other programs that we do provide. This weekend, I think, is going to be an opportunity to provide the services that MACA delivers to our partners. I just wanted to ensure the Member that we are on top of this and that it is something that is, I think, going to help us move forward in terms of the work and the support that we provide to our municipal governments. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As previously said, we are still waiting for the bill to pass through and working with our municipal governments on an implementation plan. We've got to look at the resources. We've got to look at the types of training. We are going to be playing a pretty major role in this, and we want to make sure that we do it right, so we have been having those discussions, and concerns have been brought up by specifically the City of Yellowknife. At this moment, we don't have one right now, but we are going to be looking at creating an implementation plan for this act. Thank you.

We have been working with our partners within the NWTAC. Since I have taken this role on, I have sat down with them, the executive, and have had these discussions. We continue to lobby the federal government. We are creating a strategy, a strategy that we have been working on for a number of years. As I mentioned, you know, I will be open. This government is not going to be able to, probably, close that funding gap. The next government might not be able to close the funding gap, or the government after that. I mean this is something that we've got to address, and some of these are long-term...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is something that we can really put some more work in. I'll just asked my deputy minister here, but what I can't provide Members is the amount of consumer affairs concerns that we have had, how they have been dealt with, and then also making sure that we can, I guess you could say, do more of an advocacy role on our websites and through our regional offices.