Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2016, at the start of the 18th Assembly, the GNWT continued to acknowledge that there exists a gap between the core funding and needs of community governments. The government has set a target of nine years to close this gap, and here we are, four years later. MACA's 2018-2019 Business Plan says we're still nine years away from balancing this deficit.

The NWT Association of Municipalities identified a $40-million deficit in funding. In the attached report prepared by the Conference Board of Canada, which was included with their submission, it stated that closing the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I listened intently to committee's report on this recommendation. I am just wondering -- well, I guess I can't wonder; this isn't question period. These things are best dealt with by way of statute. You can do anything in regulations, just about, if pursuant to the contents of the act. My concern here is that those regulations may be a long time coming, and they may not be as forthcoming as we may want.

I think that, as the committee noted, there needs to be some explanation given to people who are turned down. It would have been nice to see that coming forward in...

Point of order, Mr. Chair. I will just quote from our procedural text, Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms, 6th edition. A question of privilege. This is 26(2).

A question of privilege, on the other hand, is a question partly of fact and partially of law, the law of contempt of Parliament, and it is a matter for the House to determine. The decision of the House on a question of privilege, like every other matter which the House has to decide, can only be elicited by a question put from the Chair by the Speaker, and resolved either in the affirmative or the negative, and the question is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering if I can inquire with our law clerk: part 3 of clause 6 says, "The Commissioner and Executive Council may make regulations for the purposes of the section prescribing form or content of the report." Is it conceivable that the details of this amendment that is before the House right now could be accommodated with clause 3? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister keeps talking about priority projects and prioritizing municipal infrastructure needs, and that sounds like a different process than what this funding is. Can he just clarify if the municipal funding gap is somehow conditional on municipal priorities or if it's funding that is flowed through to the municipalities? Because the issue I am talking about is funding that flows through as a transfer to our community governments that they can then use. The Minister is talking about working on priorities, which are, you know, a completely different ball game, so...

We have a capital budget -- and the Ministers laugh at this request. This is a request that has been brought forward by the NWTAC. This is a request that has been brought forward by community leaders time and time again, and, to be met with laughter now? Mr. Speaker, we have an upcoming capital budget that includes funding for municipalities. Is there a way that this Minister will advocate for our communities, in consideration of that budget?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As per my Member's statement, the state of community funding in the Northwest Territories has a major problem, and we have known about this problem for a long time. I would like to know what the Minister responsible of Municipal and Community Affairs has done to properly address the deficits and shortfalls in the municipal funding formula. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the point that the Member is raising is fundamentally around the role of Members who are participating in committees such as this one to determine the merits of legislation in a detailed clause-by-clause review and proposed amendments, which is an inherent privilege of Members and an inherent role of the House in exercising its own independence, so the House is allowed to pursue its duties that are important for the passage of laws. To have outside interference either in the form of a consideration that has been raised by a third party that is, in fact...

Thank you kindly. Speaking to the motion, I think that there is, of course, a real need for independent regulators in any jurisdiction, but these annual reports are important for the public's right to know about what regulators have been doing. I know there has been some concern that a prescriptive list is somehow impinging on the independence of the regulator, but I don't think that's, in fact, true in this case. As the honourable Member for Frame Lake said, this is laying out the decision points that are already in existence in the act and ensuring that there is guidance in the issuance of...