Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this point actually I can't give you a figure because we're still in the process of negotiations with the federal government, so until the federal government has signed off and agreed where we can use the infrastructure monies, then I can't say where that money will be going. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am hopeful that the federal government will understand that there are more emergency needs besides just flooding, but, if not, then it will be addressed when we look at our plan. Every community has to do a capital plan every year, and so, within that capital planning process, we try to assist them in identifying what their priorities are. When we finish the defining of all the assets, what they have, and their needs within their fire departments, then we will actually look at prioritizing on their capital asset planning process. At that time, then the communities would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Aboriginal Sports Circle receives $663,000. That money was to support Team NWT at NAG. Most of the money actually was spent for team travel. It is expensive to send people from the northern communities and pay for their accommodations while they are down there. Some of the money was used for territorial sports organizations. They were provided grants so that they could complete the selection of their teams for the games, and that is how the money was utilized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The federal government actually gave money to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to develop an Asset Management Strategy checklist for communities. The 10 that we're doing is total 10 for this time. We're just starting that, so each year we'll be doing more, but our goal is to have all communities implement it because it is a requirement from the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this time, it is approximately $23 million a year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like we said, we are looking at leveraging the federal monies for infrastructure and then addressing the communities with deficits in them. I do want to stress that Municipal and Community Affairs is about community development and self-determination. The new deal, actually, whatever Minister put that in 10 years ago, in my opinion, did a great job. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this point, on the recommendations of the Auditor General, we are actually in the process of doing kind of an asset management strategy with all of the communities to assess what assets they have in regards to fire protection; identifying what they have, what they are missing, and the condition of each asset. Until that is done, then we will not know exactly what financial assistance each community will need to address the emergency fire services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. With the Aboriginal governments' designated authorities, they can also use their capital funding to leverage it to borrow monies. Again, they have to agree, and they have to ideally use our guidelines to do that. We have done that with the Yellowknives Dene. We have done that just recently; so it is an option that they can use as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this present moment we actually provide the funding to the communities, and then the communities are responsible for expending any capital in that regard at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We try our best to answer the questions very well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.