Thank you. Minister of MACA.
Thank you. For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy minister Gareau.
Thank you. The Member is correct, there is no increase in the community government funding line, but there is an increase going to community governments. If you look at the community government mandate funding line, an increase from $3.3 million to $4.167 million. And that's the funding that is proposed to be approved to help reduce the municipal funding gap. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Monfwi.
Okay, how is this fund being allocated? Is it based on per capita or infrastructure? There's a community government funding.
Thank you. Minister of MACA.
So there's a formula that was developed, and that how the funding's allocated, according to that formula. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Monfwi.
It would be nice if we could see that formula, how the funding's being allocated. And this also this other one too, community government mandate funding, that one that to close the gap. How is that funding going to be allocated among 33 communities?
Minister of MACA.
So for that detail, I'll just turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy minister Gareau.
Thank you. MACA has a formula funding to allocate the community government funding. Various things in it, including things like population. But we will use that same formula to allocate the community government mandate funding. Thank you.
Member for Monfwi.
Thank you. And this water and sewer services funding to provide funding to support community government, so that's 19. How is that being allocated too as well, to the community? Because I would like to get answer for that first please.
Thank you. Minister of MACA.
The funding formula. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Monfwi.
Okay, with the recent experience in Tlicho region, that was an emergency for us because having, you know, access to clean water, and that's one of the mandate for the government too, is that to have to provide funding for program and services in the communities. This was an emergency. Flooding and fire is also an emergency situation. That's natural disaster. And so I just wanted to see I wanted to know why water and sewer, especially for water, having access to clean drinking water was not part is not seen or part of an emergency situation for communities as large as Tlicho region, especially in Behchoko where there we're the largest Dene community in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Minister of MACA.
For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy minister Gareau.
Thank you. We do have a disaster assistance policy which is used to respond to major emergency. The situation in Behchoko did not meet the criteria laid out in that policy which is, you know, it has to be a sudden unanticipated event that impacts a large number of people. And I know that the situation in Behchoko, there were several you know, many people impacted by it. The difference is that it is the community government's responsibility to respond and which they did, and they did a very good job in terms of, you know, bringing in MACA, bringing in other expertise and getting the repairs done as quickly as they could. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Monfwi.
It was not considered emergency even though the pipe has been there for over 50 years and full of asbestos, people in that area are drinking from that so you don't consider that emergency? It's you know, that's I don't agree with that. So I think that should have been considered as emergency because it's impacting people's health. So, yeah, anything that's with that contained like, that was built over 50 years ago and not regularly maintained and full of asbestos is an emergency. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Bare there any further questions under this section? Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go to the line item there, senior citizens and disabled person's property tax relief.
The community of Hay River has a large number of seniors. And one of the issues that came up was this tax relief program and, you know, they heard that I think that there was possibly going to be a review, and I think a lot of them or some of them took it to mean that they were it was going to be discontinued. And what I'd like I guess is for the Minister to just explain to me I guess how this program works? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of MACA.
For that detail, I'm going to turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy minister Gareau.
Thank you. This piece of legislation, it does provide the that municipal taxation authorities can exempt a certain portion of either a senior citizen or a disabled person can exempt a certain amount of their taxes. We have started a review of this legislation and our intent had initially been to bring it forward, bring a legislative proposal forward during the life of this Assembly. We have delayed it until the 20th Assembly. But we have started work undertaking the review work to be prepared to advance this early in the life of the 20th Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess, you know, the seniors, the ones I talked to, they're concerned that, you know, there's a move to basically end this funding. So, you know, if such a decision was to be made, how would you know, what criteria would you be looking at to base something like that on? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of MACA.
Thank you. I wouldn't want to speculate. Like, we are looking at bringing this forward into the next Assembly. So I don't want to speculate on what is or isn't happening with this. I think the Member is asking me to see the future, and I don't know what's going to happen with this. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, they're going through a review process and that's to figure out what's going to happen in the future. I'm not asking the Minister to tell me what's going to happen in the future but to just give me some idea of the criteria that's used to you know, moving forward in how they're doing the review. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of MACA.
Thank you. So he's asking for the what the process is? I can get the deputy minister to provide that. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy minister Gareau.
Thank you. The NWTAC has passed resolutions at their annual general meeting to ask MACA to examine this piece of legislation given that it is out of date and it hasn't been comprehensivereviewed. So that's one factor we're looking at. We're looking at the resolutions that they've passed. And, you know, the legislation is out of date and it does need to be modernized.
The other piece the other aspect we're looking at is they're just over time, there have been some administrative processes, both in the GNWT and by municipal governments, where the program may not be you know, the high elements of the program are being delivered consistently in every community, but there may be some small differences that have just emerged over time and how the programs are administered. So we want to just make sure that that is all cleaned up and that all of the everybody delivering the program is delivering it the same way across the territory. So those are the main elements of the review, really just to modernize it and just to ensure consistency in application. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, in looking at the policy and the way it's it rolls out is that, you know, there's a flaw in there in the sense that if you have a couple and one's 65 years and over and the other one's younger, they're forced if they want to use that tax relief program, the only way they could do it is for one person, the younger one, to be removed from title, which is which is interesting because if for some reason one of them passed away, then, you know, they're they're put in a position where the where the house has to probably go through probate versus just going through a straight survivorship. And you know, there's added cost to that as well. So, you know, as I'm hoping that, you know, that's something that through this process that that's considered. Because all it is is, you know, we're forcing them to do something that we shouldn't they shouldn't have to do. It just doesn't make sense to me because, you know, if you got a couple, they're a couple and that's it, whether one's 65 and the other one's younger. So is that something that would be looked at as well? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of MACA.
We'll agree with him, yes.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go to the infrastructure, community infrastructure gap as well.
You know, it when I look at it and, you know, and I think about how it's we're ever going to close it, it sounds like we're not going to be looking to the feds, really, to provide any support, and it sounds like the department doesn't really think that the feds can provide the support that's required. But I find it I guess it's unreasonable to place that burden on taxpayers when in the North here, it's bad enough that the cost of living is high and it's only going to get higher as we go along here. So somehow, we've got to pay for it. So I guess I'd ask the Minister, you know, what is it? Like, what are we've been working at this for a while, and I'd like to know, you know, do we have any solutions in sight? Is there anything that you can see? Is there anything that you know, that's come across your table that you can point to and say, yeah, this here might work to close that gap? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of MACA.
Thank you. Yeah, so as I said previously here in this House here today, we've had a meeting with NWTAC. We have a number of ideas that NWTAC has brought to us. And we are working with them on these ideas. This potentially could resolve this funding gap challenge that we are facing. And we are working on that with NWTAC on it. Thank you.
