Robert Villeneuve

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my question is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I just wanted to ask the Minister about another initiative that the local youth in Fort Resolution have taken upon themselves to try and get resolved. I am talking about the youth centre that has been sitting on the blocks and has been boarded up for the last year-and-a-half. The community is still struggling with dollars to open up the youth centre. They were given $80,000 about a year ago by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to buy a building, move it, and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t think the Minister really answered my question. I know it’s Public Works buildings. We are looking at two communities, roughly $9,500 for maintenance funding for Public Works buildings. I can understand why they don’t want this work. I can understand why they don’t even want the funding to carry out this work because there is probably just not enough. How many buildings does this include? Are there any schools involved or just maintenance garages or units or what? Thank you.

Thank you.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to thank my colleagues for extending question period.

Mr. Speaker, just getting back to some of the issues that the local youth and the residents have been working on in reference to the arena facility. Over the last year, the youth and the community council have been requesting extra dollars to help make improvements in the arena facility, which the youth again have taken it on themselves to make these improvements. They have allotted many hours and evenings to doing construction work themselves in the arena, Mr. Speaker.

When I went back there and...

I seek unanimous consent to extend question period.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe I will just edify the Minister on what the problem is. The problem is that there is no money.

---Laughter

Basically, the money that was allotted to the community for this youth centre is not sufficient. Basically, their shortfall is to the tune of about $40,000, Mr. Speaker. With the government painting a bright fiscal picture with all of the new developments at the national level, I don’t see what the big issue is with scraping up $40,000 within Municipal and Community Affairs multi-million dollar budget to help the youth in the community. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I use my Member’s statement to talk about some of the problems our youth are being subjected to today, specifically on education. I am not talking about the costs families are faced with in relocating their children to the larger centres to receive a better education, but the negative societal impact we will be encountering in the future from the disruption of family stability as a consequence of geographical relocation in pursuit of the economic independence and benefits received when living in the larger commercial areas.

Mr. Speaker, the youth...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to get the Minister’s thoughts on the possibility of writing off these outstanding debts that many members of the NWT have to date.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Minister for consideration on that point, anyway. The reason I’m questioning it is that due to the fact that a lot of the large debts in the $30,000 to $50,000 range, the nature of the debt is listed as unaccounted contributions. I think it would be prudent of this government to let the public know that the associations the government is dealing with in trying to recover some of the debts and who is actually running these organizations and whose direction it is that is resulting in the accounting responsibilities of the organization. I think it would help...

My question is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, the Honourable Michael McLeod. The youth centre in Deninu Kue has been on blocks and boarded up for the past year-and-a-half.

What steps has the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs taken to address this issue?

How is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs assisting the Deninu Kue Community Council to make this youth centre a reality?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.