Michael McLeod

Madam Speaker, we have had several meetings in the Member's riding. We have been there on a very regular basis over this past year. The issue of an all-weather road or the condition of the Mackenzie Valley winter road has come up on more than one occasion at every meeting. It’s a huge concern. It’s a significant cost factor. That’s something that we recognize. We’ve also, as part of our consultation, contacted the stakeholders with our proposal, our new draft of our proposal, including the Member. He will be receiving a copy of this proposal. We are also contacting the chamber of commerce and...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, some of the regions have already allocated all of their money. For the program that the Member is referring to, the Youth Contributions Program, we have $125,000 for 33 communities across the Territories. That doesn't go very far. We have looked at different ways to try to make the dollars stretch a little further. We have looked at capping the amounts that we make in terms of contributions. We have looked at limiting the different organizations in the communities. We are trying to find ways to be able to spread that around a little further, but...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, we have been looking at the dust problem for a couple of years now. As I indicated earlier, we have undertaken to hire a contractor to come up with some options for us. We will look at that, and if it requires additional investment from this government, we will bring that forward. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Member is correct; the main street chipsealing program was reduced this year as our program had to cut the funding. So we had to reduce some of our activities in the different communities. Fort Good Hope is deferred by one year because of our budget restrictions. We’ve planned to have the community targeted as soon as Tuktoyaktuk and Fort McPherson are done. Having said that, we are also completing a study that we had a contractor do for us to look at the different conditions in the communities to see if there are any other options or solutions...

Madam Speaker, this afternoon, I would like to advise the Assembly that the Department of Transportation’s Graduated Driver’s Licence Program will come into effect as of August 1, 2005. The Graduated Driver’s Licence Program will attach some new conditions to the process of acquiring a driver’s licence for the first time. These conditions will encourage the novice driver to respect the responsibility involved in operating a motor vehicle safely.

When the 14th Legislative Assembly amended the Motor Vehicle Act for the strategy to reduce impaired driving in June of 2003, it also enacted...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the intent of this funding was to assist the communities to prepare and deal with the regulatory review process. As I indicated earlier, it was funding we felt we needed to put into the hands of the communities to assist them to deal with the pipeline construction application. The hearings are going to be starting fairly quick this summer, late summer more than likely. The communities needed the resources to be able to deal with it.

There are 11 communities that have been recognized outside of the Mackenzie gas study area. We did not provide a lot of money...

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 9, Municipal Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the second time.

Madam Speaker, this bill amends the Charter Communities Act, the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, and the Hamlets Act. The amendments enable community governments to:

make bylaws authorizing the refinancing of long-term debt without the approval of the Minister or the voters, so long as the principal amount being borrowed does not exceed the principal amount then outstanding under the original debt;

require that notice of loss or damage...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have a $1 million budget in the area of youth programs and three-quarters of that, or $750,000, is budgeted for Youth Corp Programs. There is $125,000 for the youth contributions. There is some money for a youth program advisor. All the money that we have in our budget goes to the communities. We recognize that the needs and requests that are coming forward are a lot more than we can accommodate. I am certainly willing to provide a breakdown of the money that was allocated to the Member's riding, for him to see where the money has been spent...

Madam Speaker, we have many youth programs that we have developed over the years and many new programs. I am not sure exactly where the Member is going when he says that we have reduced funding. We have a budget for youth in a lot of different areas. We have a budget for youth core funding which is dedicated towards providing assistance to larger-scale programs in the different communities and organizations and individuals. We also have the Youth Contributions Program that has money allocated for travel and different organizations. We also have our Volunteer Development Program, our Pan...

Madam Speaker, I’m not sure if the Member is asking me to commit additional dollars to his community of Good Hope. The program was reduced and Fort Good Hope has been deferred for one year. However, there is already an allocation and has been historically an allocation to the community government funding to deal with dust. The community also has the option to invest in dust control if that is a priority. We do not dictate where the communities should invest their money. If they spend it in other areas, that is the community’s decision. So we can certainly indicate to the Member that we...