Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I talked about the role of the hamlet councils in our communities. I have, in my riding, some communities that have clearly expressed their aspirations to try to be more independent in terms of trying to provide critical services to the communities. I wanted to ask the Minister what are the steps in how it is that these local community councils could undertake to address issues with trying to repair or build vital service infrastructure in the communities.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most communities have a capital plan and they identify projects. In some cases in the capital plan, where the cost is very high, then they would start putting some money away. They work with our department in trying to assist in identifying best ways to put the infrastructure up. Once they go through all that, at the end of the day, the ultimate decision is up to the community as to how they want to proceed.
With the recent trends in how it is that we’re going to spend the next four years trying to allocate our priorities, I think there’s been a deliberate decision to ensure that any major capital infrastructure projects are delayed at the latter part of this Assembly. I wanted to ask if there are any interim arrangements that perhaps communities could be considered because of their long-standing aspiration to try to establish service infrastructure, like water treatment plants. Can this government at least try to prioritize these projects?
We give the communities their infrastructure money every year and there’s also the gas tax money that goes to the communities. They have money coming every year, as far as their infrastructure needs are. They get this money every year. It’s a line item in the budget. They make the decision as to what their needs are in the community. If the community feels that a water treatment plant is one of their high priorities, then they do have the ability to make that happen. We’ve worked with other communities before, where they’ve done a bundled water treatment plant, where it kind of kept the costs down. The communities have all the authority now as far as how their infrastructure money is spent.
I thank the Minister for providing us an overview of how it is indeed possible for communities to try to at least establish their infrastructure. My question is: Is there a willingness or departmental commitment to ensure that yes, indeed, these infrastructure projects could be realized? Is the department willing at this time to commit to at least meet the communities’ needs?
We see our role at MACA now as more of a support to the community. MACA has a lot of experience in helping communities try and realize some of their projects, working on capital plans. Communities will submit capital plans for the next five, 10, 15 years, and if they identify any particular project as part of their capital plan, we would be more than willing to sit with the community, meet with them, review their capital plan and see what the best way is to make it happen.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
