Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can commit to working with committee and receiving some input from them. When we go through the next building business planning process, there’s an opportunity. If committee comes forward with some recommendations, then I will commit to the Member that we will look at that and I will work closely with the Minister responsible for Seniors in the NWT to see how we can improve our support for active seniors across the Northwest Territories.
…(inaudible)…a MACA update every year for community governments to plan their budgets for this upcoming year, so they’re all aware of any changes.
I’ve already committed to sitting down with the Member and having a very good, frank discussion on the role that we play in the Arctic Energy Alliance and any other part of MACA department. I’ll be more than happy to sit with the Member and we can have a good discussion.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to welcome a former resident of Inuvik, Mr. Dez Loreen. Welcome to the gallery, Dez.
Mr. Chair, was there a question or was that just a comment? I don’t believe I heard a question.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member is correct. We have looked at our O and M funding in the water and sewer and as a result of forced growth, and working with communities on some of the water and sewer, funding was increased. The O and M funding is one that we still need to work on a bit, because with all the capital money and capital projects that are going into communities, the concern we’re hearing from communities is that the O and M funding is not keeping up to the amount of capital that they’ve got. Considering our fiscal situation, I think there’s only so much we can put into...
Not currently, and we’re not sure of things that have gone on in the past before. Our deputy became vice-chair. I guess the answer would be I just don’t know.
We have a number of great programs designed for youth. When I talk about enhancing, I think if there are ways that we can improve on the amount of money that we give them, I think that would go a long way. As far as some of the programs go, we have our youth contributions, youth centres, youth core and we have a regional youth sporting event. We have a number of great programs that are designed for our youth.
The Member is asking for a lot of detail that I didn’t come prepared with because we were looking at the overall numbers. If the Member is looking for more detail, then I’ve committed to providing him with as much detail as he would like.
MACA sits as a very active member on the board. As our deputy has pointed out, he sits as the vice-president. We’re a very active member.