Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have been in contact with the Minister’s office to advise him that this fiscal year…and he’s absolutely right; the communities are happy with the formula, it’s just that because of the rising energy costs in the last six months, like, this formula probably took some time to work on, the six months that they took to work on this formula is just when the gas and fuel prices were rising, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister address this year’s shortfall this year as opposed to waiting until next fiscal year? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions are a follow-up as a result of my Member’s statement with regard to O and M and the Department of MACA. I’m sure that, well, perhaps the Minister can tell me, Mr. Speaker, if the department is aware of the gap that already exists in the new funding formula for transferring the responsibility of O and M to the communities. It really, really makes sense to everybody’s eyes, but using a three-year rolling average just doesn’t work, just because of the increase in energy costs. I’d just like to know if the Minister is aware of this, have the...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. With respect to priorities and objectives of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight Progress Report on Priorities and Objectives, we read most of them into the public record. Just as chair, the most important thing for us is to continue our deliberations of pre-budget consultations and we really look forward to planning a fall session and getting out to the five regions. It means different communities; it means 10 communities that we're going to get out there and listen to people and talk about their priorities and their needs, as we...

Can we conclude in five, 10 minutes?

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. With respect to priorities and objectives of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight Progress Report on Priorities and Objectives, we read most of them into the public record. Just as chair, the most important thing for us is to continue our deliberations of pre-budget consultations and we really look forward to planning a fall session and getting out to the five regions. It means different communities; it means 10 communities that we're going to get out there and listen to people and talk about their priorities and their needs, as we...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Just this whole issue is we have an opportunity to go over it again at length and we went over it yesterday and as a MLA for Nahendeh that represents Fort Simpson and the issue where this building stands is that I have to tell committee again is, it’s not something that’s been thrown on the books on this supp here two weeks ago, it’s something that I’ve been working with the community, all levels of the community. Everyone is concerned about the building and the infrastructure and what to do with it and what’s the best way we could plan around it. A lot of...

Can we conclude in five, 10 minutes?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. No, the issue is that there is already a shortfall because the funding that communities are getting is based on a three-year average, but the average did not include the skyrocketing increase in the O and M, which is basically fuel. So that’s the shortfall that the community has asked me to address. Will the Minister look at some type of funding options to provide, to prevent this hardship for this fiscal year? Mahsi cho.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Just this whole issue is we have an opportunity to go over it again at length and we went over it yesterday and as a MLA for Nahendeh that represents Fort Simpson and the issue where this building stands is that I have to tell committee again is, it’s not something that’s been thrown on the books on this supp here two weeks ago, it’s something that I’ve been working with the community, all levels of the community. Everyone is concerned about the building and the infrastructure and what to do with it and what’s the best way we could plan around it. A lot of...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister’s approach to a discrepancy between how much a community spends and how much a community will receive through this complex funding formula, will that be addressed this year or is that something that the communities can discuss and raise with the Minister soon, because it will impact their current year’s budget, Mr. Speaker?