Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Premier about decentralization. First I just wanted to highlight the NWT. Of course, we have one major city here in the NWT. We have about five or seven regional centres and the rest are communities. Right now devolution has been regarded as the biggest achievement thus far. We’re seeing some discussion in terms of devolution, so there has been a lot of heavy lifting. At the same time, we are burdened with heavy responsibilities. I’m going to ask the questions, but I don’t know if I should expect a shuffle or a dance, but I will try.
Of the 90 positions already decentralized, how many are targeted for communities outside of regional centres? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe any are targeted. Thank you.
Thank you. That’s disappointing. Can this government help a community like Fort Providence and recognize it as a regional centre so the community is able to benefit from decentralization? Mahsi.
It’s more than just asking to become a regional centre. It has to make sense, it has to be feasible and there has to be a good reason for doing so. We have five regional centres that have been established strictly for administrative purposes. In the past, we’ve looked at establishing regional centres to coincide with land claim agreements, but we found that not to be feasible at this point in time. In order to establish Fort Providence as a regional centre, we would have to have some rationale for doing so and also primarily how much it would cost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do appreciate the Premier being straightforward in terms of perhaps relaying or at least lessening the hopes and aspirations of small communities, basically saying that cost is a big factor at this point.
When can small communities realistically expect the benefits of decentralization? Mahsi.
The Member will be very pleased to know that this government has a plan and a vision for the future and part of that plan is decentralization of positions from the larger centres to the smaller communities. We will be having a housing capital plan so that we will build up to 100 housing units in the small communities. We also have a plan where we will establish offices so that we can decentralize positions to the communities. We have set up ourselves so that we can develop that plan and that vision over the next two years of this government, where we will identify those positions and divisions that will be decentralized. We will be able to tell each and every one of the Members which positions and when we expect them to be decentralized. Everybody will have a plan. Everybody will be happy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is: Would there be any positions decentralized to Fort Providence? Mahsi.
There’s no song and dancing here. There will be positions that will be identified. As we develop our plan, we will identify those positions that will be decentralized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
