Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just bear with me because I have to use my computer for this one.

Mr. Speaker, after careful review of the budget, I would like to confirm that there are departments that I'm pleased with and those that are left wanting.

And I just want to make a point, is that, you know, I'm an Indigenous person, lived in the Northwest Territories all my life. I have worked blue collar jobs. I, you know, worked, you know, my way up. I know what it's like to have to put food on the table; you know, go without a wage. You know, I felt the bad times and I felt the good times. So, you know...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I actually disagree with the Minister and that comment. I think that, you know, like I said, we got to raise the bar high. We have to figure out where the money is and one of the places we can get it, and the only place, is really the federal government. And nowhere do I see anything about addressing it by going with a plan to the federal government.

So my next question for the Minister is will the Minister confirm, going forward, what is the department's plan to not only reduce but to eliminate this gap, and will the Minister provide a realistic timeline to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I got another Member's statement here. Not really, but I guess what I want to talk about is and the questions will go to the Minister of MACA is about reducing the funding gap.

You know, when I look at that, that's one area, that's one priority we could actually solve and wipe off his books, off the books, because it's a monetary solution to that. And, you know, we have to set the bar high. You know, we look at it and we say we're going to reduce it, but I think we can eliminate it. And, you know, the communities are the backbone of the NWT. We have to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government, because of the pandemic, opened the door to stimulus funding. Once that money's gone, that door's going to be closed, and we're not going to have an opportunity to go back for a while. So, you know, I think it's important that this government sits down, comes up with a real plan to go and request the funds to get rid of this gap. Because like I said, the communities are the backbone of the Northwest Territories. Without them, we wouldn't be here.

So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm what, if any, requests have been made to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'd like to ask the Minister to confirm what the dollar value of the current community funding gap is and what would be required annually to renew and replace community infrastructure as it reaches mid and endlife cycles? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past several years, community governments are finding that they are unable to keep up with the need to provide financial solutions to deal with aging infrastructure, provide services, and cover the increased costs of doing business that would allow the community to grow. We know there's a funding gap of approximately $37 million with no sense of urgency by this government to seriously address it. We also know that we are looking at around $69 million annually to renew and replace community infrastructure as it reaches mid to endoflife cycles.

Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the winters you'll usually see work on the pipelines, and I'm not sure if there's going to be any work this winter but I suspect there will be, and there's equipment, you know, coming in from the South and, you know, some of it comes around through Highway No. 1 while other equipment and goods come through Highway No. 7. So has Premier has the department I guess, or the secretariat, looked at how they could support that by, you know, extending those hours at that border crossing when there's a large movement of traffic coming north? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know there's limited hours at that crossing. So when can we see those or when can we expect that the hours would be increased so that they're open you know, it's opened seven days a week for however many hours a day? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that a new longterm day shelter has been made available to those in Yellowknife that have no other means of staying warm, staying fed, and staying safe during these cold winter days.

Mr. Speaker, it used to shock me how fast projects in Yellowknife, like the day shelter or others, can happen and how quickly funds can be found. Not anymore. I soon realized that when you are city with a population of some 20,000 plus; when you have the Premier; the Minister of Health; and the Minister of Finance, all being from Yellowknife, it will increase the pace at how fast...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now for the million dollar question. We have businesses in the southern NWT working further north, and they're travelling back and forth in, you know, through BC or the Yukon and working up north and then coming back. And they're finding it costly to go through Grande Prairie and come around. And you know, they have an idea of when they're leaving the they know when they're leaving the North to come back this way, and they would like to have access to that border to come through, through back into either whether it's Hay River, Yellowknife, or Simpson. So I'm wondering...