Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Finance. In the recent federal budget millions of dollars were highlighted that are available to Canadians for infrastructure and many other projects. Some of that money has been identified as an Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. Possibly $5 million could accrue to us. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance if he knows what that money can be used for and when it might be available.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are still waiting for the detail of how these many pots of money are going to roll out. Some are clearer than others. The Building Canada Fund, for example, is an existing program where we’re compressing the time frame. This Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, along with their Green Fund and a host of other smaller pots of money that we may be eligible for, we’re still awaiting the detail to see what’s possible for us in terms of the conditions and criteria, how they apply to us as a Territory and how they may possibly apply to municipalities.
Thank you to the Minister for that response. I understand that details are probably not known yet. The federal government is not known for their speed on providing detail. I guess I would like to know if the Minister knows from the general comments that were part of the federal budget whether or not if a project is shovel ready -- to use the federal term -- by the summer of 2009 whether or not that would speed up access to funds from this Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.
Given the federal government’s stated commitment for a two-year stimulus and to use it or lose it, the more shovel ready projects we have are design ready, that are ready to be put in on the ground, I think is going to be a key criteria given the short time frames for the fund. Thank you.
It is good to hear that. The Minister is probably aware, as are hopefully Members in here that I have an area in my riding that is under almost a state of emergency in terms of replacing their water and sewer infrastructure. I would like to ask the Minister whether or not he would be willing to look to the federal government for some of the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund dollars to have them flow through from GNWT to the City of Yellowknife to assist the Northlands Condo to replace their water and sewer infrastructure. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will make a commitment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of MACA, that he would be looking at how this money would flow, working with the City of Yellowknife to make sure that we can access each and every one of these pots even though they may be project-based or would have to compete with other communities and provinces from across the country. Yes, we will make sure that we work with the City of Yellowknife to see what is possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is good to hear. I am really pleased to hear that both MACA and the Minister of Finance are looking to see if we can’t assist my residents on this project. I would just ask the Minister whether or not he would be willing to sit down with the City of Yellowknife and myself and the Minister of MACA to try and determine what could be done and how fast it could be done. Thank you.
What we will commit to is, of course, to get the very latest information that we have in terms of any detail that would add or allow us to have a fully informed discussion. When we have that, we will share it with the Member and then we can arrange to have the discussions necessary to see not only Yellowknife but across the North where we are in the best position to take best advantage of this funding. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
