Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of MACA and it gets back to my Member’s statement where I was lending my support to my colleague Ms. Bisaro, who yesterday raised the issue of Northland Trailer Park. I’d like to ask the Minister of MACA, potentially, we have close to 1,000 people that could be left homeless. We have safety issues, health issues and a variety of social issues that could present themselves to this government in a real way. I’d like to ask the Minister of MACA if the situation in Northland in the city of Yellowknife has ever been brought up at the Cabinet table by himself or any other Cabinet Minister. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my time as Minister of MACA, which has been about a year and a half now, I have not had this discussion with Cabinet. I’ve had some conversations, are we able to do this, but MACA is not mandated to fund corporations or private landlords for the provision of water and sewer infrastructure. Thank you.
So, Mr. Speaker, what I’m hearing the Minister say is the government would rather just wait until a potential disaster happens and these pipes fail, these residents are left homeless, and we have the health issues and the social issues that will be certainly a burden on this government. Are we waiting for that to happen and how come we aren’t being proactive, Mr. Speaker, in dealing with this situation? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I think nowhere in my answer did I say we’d rather wait until something happens before we act on it. This is a private corporation within a municipal boundary. We will work with the city if we have to try and find some solutions to ask MACA to fund it. I think with our $168,000 in extraordinary funding, I don’t think that will get us very far. Thank you.
When we need to find money, obviously, the government’s quick. We just approved $15 million in a supp for the Deh Cho Bridge last week. I find it kind of ironic that we have a potential situation here that could impact close to 1,000 people. I’d like to ask the Minister what mechanisms does the department have at its disposal to address an emergency situation like the one that could present itself very near in the future with Northland Trailer Park. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, again, I say this is a private corporation within municipal boundaries and if it ever came to an emergency such as that the Member’s describing, then I think we’d be working with the city to see how we can take care of the problem in conjunction with the city. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t hear the Minister close the door to looking at some possible solutions and working with the residents and the City of Yellowknife. I’d like to ask the Minister if he could perhaps designate somebody in his department to spearhead those efforts with the City of Yellowknife and the residents of Northland Trailer Park so that the government is up to date and up to speed on what exactly is happening there in finding potential solutions. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we continue to monitor the situation because we know it’s a concern to Members across. We will monitor it if we have to work with the city to find some alternative funding arrangements, whether it be, you know, there’s the gas tax money that the city receives, there’s the capital formula money that the city receives. This is a private corporation and if we were to start that process for one, who’s to say that in a small community if you own an apartment and the water and sewer goes, that the government will pay for it. This is privately held land within a municipal boundary. Like the Member said, we’ll continue to monitor the situation and see what advice and any part we can play in it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
