Frederick Blake Jr.

Is the Minister willing to direct his department to work with the hamlet to reduce municipal service rates to levels that can work for everyone? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs in follow-up to my Member’s statement. How long has the Minister been aware of the situation in Fort McPherson? Thank you.

Is there a way the department can work with the community to lower the municipal services bills so that the residents can gradually adjust to the increase? The department and the hamlet should consider a five- to 10-year payback to the deficit, not try to recover it in one day and on the backs of community members.

There has to be a common goal of both the department and for my constituents. They are not happy paying such high prices to the hamlet. They are going into arrears and are given warnings that services may be discontinued, and some people have been refused water delivery.

Aside from...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know I’ve been focusing on the water rates, but it’s also affecting the sport and recreation. So I’d like to ask the Minister, will the Minister direct his department to implement a five- to 10-year payback plan on the deficit and not a two- to three-year? Thank you.

Thank you. Is there a limit to the deficit a municipality can incur before the department steps in? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize Bruce Noksana, one of my friends I believe who now lives in Tuk. Welcome to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The extremely high cost of municipal services in Fort McPherson is ridiculous, Mr. Speaker. Over the past few years, the Hamlet of Fort McPherson incurred a deficit of over $2 million. The hamlet council took this expense upon itself to better the community services, only to be pulled deeper into debt. The cost of municipal services dramatically increased. The average cost of water, septic and garbage services in March 2014 was $150 per household. Come April of 2014, the cost went through the roof and now Fort McPherson homeowners are paying, on average, $425 every...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister ensure that happens over the summer? Thank you.

The policy states the applicant must earn roughly 20 percent of their earnings on a yearly basis from on the land.

Will the department make changes to that policy?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my statement is on members of my constituency who are either full-time or part-time harvesters.

Many of our people in the Northwest Territories have cabins on the land where they go to harvest food for their families or where they take their children to teach traditional survival skills. Culture is high on my list of priorities, Mr. Speaker, and it gives me great pride when I see families who spend time on the land, who take time to share their cultural values with their children and who, at the same time, are surviving off the land.

Many people in the Mackenzie...