Grant-in-lieu is a payment that our government makes to community governments, obviously in lieu of taxation, so in this particular case, the increase in grant-in-lieu is a result of increased assets that have come on to the assessment roll over time and when those assets come on the assessment roll, there is, of course, a payment that’s due to community governments. Our department makes those payments to community governments on behalf of the GNWT as a whole, so it could be any GNWT asset that came on board over time.
Thank you, Director. Committee, we’re going to look at page 6-40 and 6-41 together, activity summary, regional operations, grants and contributions, $75.336 million. Sorry, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to Mr. Schauerte for the explanation. I understand, I think it was in the Minister’s opening remarks that the formula for funding community governments is being evaluated. There have been a couple of apparently very productive meetings and I’m very glad to hear that there’s an in-depth look at the formula funding for communities. On this page we have contributions for a number of things. There’s community government funding, there’s then additional funding and then water and sewer funding and recreation funding. So, as the formula for communities is being revisited, are all of these formulas being revisited or are they all funded on the same formula? Like, there are four or five different pots of money here, so are they all allocated by the same formula, and if not, is every one of the formulas on this page being revisited? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Deputy Minister Williams.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Under our current municipal funding policy review we’re looking at three pots of money, three pots, that’s the community public infrastructure pot, we’re also looking at water and sewer and O and M funding, so we’re looking at all three of those. Those are the three. I think the Member is right; we had two productive workshops since January and we have a third one slated for April, and at that time we’ll be prepared to make recommendations from the committee to the Minister and be able to bring something forward through Cabinet, FMB and through the standing committee. But it has been a lot of good work, we got good participation from a good majority of the communities across the NWT. We’re working in partnership with the NWTAC on this project and it’s being well received by all. Thank you.
Thanks to the deputy minister. My last comment in this area is that I hope, as the water and sewer funding formula is being revisited, that Yellowknife will get a little more than what it has gotten the last number of years, which has been zero.
My last question is on page 6-41, Children and Youth Resiliency Program. This is new money. I can see that and I appreciate that, but I wondered if I could get a bit of an idea or a few examples as to what sorts of programs this is intended for.
This new funding is part of the initiative funding that we received to assist and help establish or expand quality children and youth programming that supports physical activity and mental health and builds resiliency in children and youth. This was identified from the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness. It identified a clear need for more quality youth programming to support mental wellness in activity.
Physical activity, sport and recreation programs are excellent ways to support the development of positive lifestyles and mental health choices for youth. The front-line children and youth program staff are often the first to notice and identify potential mental health problems, provided that they have the proper training. Part of this program training will be the mental health first aid training for support staff as well as training and physical literacy and physical health and development. We see that this will go a long way in ensuring our youth are prepared for the future.
Thank you, Deputy Minister Williams. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just following up on that last one, I’d say especially if they’re outdoor programs, and I mean that, especially for the mental health aspect of it. From time to time I’ve brought up the need for eco-literacy, which is, simply, traditional knowledge, I guess. You know, some understanding of the outdoors and familiarity and comfort with the outdoors can have huge benefits in that area. Just a comment there.
I just wondered how much of the $15.9 million for water and sewer services is going to Yellowknife this year, if that information is handy.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. None of the money is going to Yellowknife this year.
That’s pretty clear. I certainly hope the formula changes too. For the recreational funding that goes to communities here, my community of Ndilo is in an awkward position as they’re considered part of Yellowknife, and the community of Detah, which is really an extension of the Ndilo/Detah community is funded separately, I believe, from Ndilo. Is there any consideration to working with Ndilo on this awkwardness and predicament it puts them in? It’s sort of difficult for them to compete for Yellowknife funds, and Detah funds were meant for Detah, so it’s difficult for them also for the Ndilo situation.
My understanding is there have been some preliminary discussions with the City of Yellowknife, but then here again is another opportunity for our group that’s reviewing the whole formula funding to take this particular situation into consideration. We have a good cross-section of folks from across the Northwest Territories, big communities, small communities. I think all our largest communities are represented on this group and the City of Yellowknife has representatives on there. I think this would be a good topic of conversation for them to have, and I think our deputy meets with them every so often when the do get together, so it’s an issue we can bring up and see where they go with it.
Thanks to the Minister. That sounds good. This is my last question on these pages. The New Deal taxation revenue program, I just don’t recall what that’s about. If I can just get a quick refresher on what that fund is all about.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Director Schauerte.
The tax notices that are issued to community governments that are considered in the general taxation area, the Department of Finance collects that taxation revenue on behalf of community governments, and through this grant program the money is returned back to community governments for their use. At this point, within the communities within the general taxation area there are very, very few opportunities for these community governments to become taxation authorities themselves, so there’s economies of scale that play here in terms of being the collection agency and then returning the money to the community government for their use for community government operations.
I think I followed most of that. Is it easy to define the general taxation area?
The general taxation area includes all areas with the exception of Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Norman Wells, Inuvik and Fort Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Schauerte. Page 6-41, activity summary, regional operations, grants and contributions, $75.336 million.
Agreed.
Page 6-42, information item, regional operations, active positions. Questions?
Agreed.
Page 6-44, information item, work performed on behalf of others and, as well, 6-45, information item, work performed on behalf of others, $330,000. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a point of clarification on 6-45, under the term gas tax we see a number of entries in the past, most recent revised estimates, a little over $17 million but nothing in the 2014-15. Is this reallocated somewhere or is this part of some changes with devolution?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The reason it’s not showing any allocation there is because we haven’t signed the new agreement yet. We’re hoping to have the new agreement signed by the end of March.
If that’s indeed the case, what impact will this have on the overall main estimates? I mean, this is a fairly large chunk of money, $17 million. Is this captured in the overall numbers that we’re continuously hearing about from the Minister of Finance about a shortfall and everything? Is this factored in?
I don’t think this money is factored in. It’s $15 million a year that they’ve been getting for the last number of years and it’s indexed this year. Community governments all know that this is probably the money that they’re getting because we do put out a MACA update in the fall time to give the communities an idea of what they may be getting, but we always put a disclaimer on there, “subject to Legislative Assembly approval,” so that helps with their planning purposes. Most of the community governments know that they’re getting this allocation, and I don’t believe it’s factored in here at all.
Would we consider this more like a flow-through amount and it’s just indexed?
Yes, the Member is correct.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. I’m seeing a nod from the Minister of Finance as well. Mr. Dolynny.
No further questions, Mr. Chair.
Next on my list I have Mr. Bromley. Do you have questions on this page?
Thanks, Mr. Chair, just briefly. How long is the agreement typically for the gas tax that we’re negotiating? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The new Gas Tax Agreement is going to be for the next 10 years. I believe it’s indexed at 2 percent every year starting in 2014-15. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Committee, we’re on page 6-45, information item, work performed on behalf of others, $330,000.
Agreed.
We’ll return to page 6-7, department summary, operations expenditure summary, $99.451 million.
Agreed.
Does committee agree that we’ve considered the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and is completed?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister. Thank you, witnesses. I will ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the witnesses out of the Chamber.
Does committee agree we will continue on with the Department of Lands, the new Department of Lands?
Agreed.
I will ask the Minister if he has opening comments. Minister McLeod.
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair and I will read them as soon as I find them.
---Laughter
I am pleased to present the Department of Lands’ first operations expenditure budget, totaling $26.830 million for 2014-15. This includes funding for compensation and benefits of $17.737 million for 143 positions, with 51 of those positions in regional centres, funding for contributions of $680,000, and other expenses of $8.207 million.
The department will be responsible for the management and administration of both Commissioner’s lands and Territorial lands, under the Commissioner’s Lands Act and the Territorial Lands Act, respectively.
Responsibilities devolved from the federal government include: being the lead Minister responsible for project assessments; land use planning, including regional land use plans and land use permitting; providing advice to the land and water boards for setting of securities; and leading compliance, enforcement and inspection functions for land use authorizations.
The GNWT is only one partner in an integrated land management system. Land management decision-making must recognize and respect Aboriginal and treaty rights as well as third-party land interests and legal rights. We plan to work with our stakeholders, along with the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, in developing policies that meet the needs of all Northerners.
As mentioned, this budget includes contribution funding totaling $680,000: $100,000 for Aboriginal groups for consultation in support of decisions on disposition of lands; $400,000 for Aboriginal groups in the South Slave and North Slave in support of land use planning processes; and $180,000 in support of other land use management planning processes.
The operations budget also includes $950,000 to carry out an aggressive inspection process; $250,000 of this will be dedicated to inspections at the diamond mines alone.
In these final weeks to April 1st, our implementation team and the Informatics Shared Service Centre will continue to work with other departments on early training opportunities to prepare and better equip transferring and new employees. Knowledge transfer and training for both current GNWT employees and new AANDC employees joining the GNWT is a vital component of our transition planning.
We have made progress since the committee meetings in November, but there is still much work ahead in building a cohesive department. We have the basic outline and will be working hard between now and April 1st to hit the ground running. As I previously said to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, I fully expect there will be challenges as we go forward. The Land Use Sustainability Framework will form the overarching policy framework for the department and will be supplemented by the existing policies from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. In future, any amendments will be done in consultation with our stakeholders and committee to address land issues. But these processes will take time to do properly and I am committed to engaging with committee and Members on a regular basis as we go forward over the next few years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Do you have witnesses you wish to bring into the House?
I do, Mr. Chair.
Committee agree?
Agreed.
