Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is just a reduction to the youth contribution, but if you look at the other youth contributions throughout the last few pages that we have gone through, there is still a very significant amount that was dedicated to the youth through the different programs. As far as this particular line item, I am not sure exactly what this entailed or who could access it. I will look for that information and I will share it with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As everybody is well aware, this is one of my passions, so I am kind of disappointed to see this cut in this area here. I understand that the regional budget has $225,000, but there is the $25,000. I think it is well used, so it is kind of disappointing to see this being removed from the section. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is more of a comment.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Would the Minister like to respond?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I think we all share that same passion for the youth. I think we have made that quite clear in the investments we have made into youth. In the last two or three Assemblies, the youth contributions have gone up fairly significantly. We all share that passion. We will continue to ensure that our youth are adequately funded. As I said I will get the exact detail on the $25,000 and share it with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have a couple of questions for the Minister about the NGO Stabilization Fund. There was some discussion about tying the stabilization fund to some kind of volunteerism initiative. Can the Minister confirm that that hasn’t happened and it won’t happen? I see that it is not in the description for the fund. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there is no change to this fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is the same criteria as when this program was housed in the Executive. Is that correct? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Apologies to the Member. I should have added that there was no change to the criteria as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister give us an idea of how many applications were received for the funding this year and how oversubscribed the fund is? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are just trying to gather that information. Thank you, Mr. Chair. As it says here, we have an annual budget of $350,000. This is unchanged obviously. We had 21 applications received for support. As to what we actually paid out, nine applications were approved for a total of $312,523. These are the ones that met the criteria, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you to the Minister for that response. If all the qualified applications were totalled, how much money would that request be, just for interest’s sake? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. We’re just giving the amounts that were approved. As for the actual applications and the requests, we would have to go back and look at the applications, total the requests, and then we can share with the Member or all Members, if they require it. I will make that commitment to share that number with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister for that commitment. No further questions.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Any other questions, pages 348-349? Seeing none. We’ll move to page 350, active positions, sport, recreation and youth. Questions, page 350? Seeing none. We’ll return to page 347, the activity total. Questions, page 347, operations expenditure summary? Seeing none. I will call the page. Municipal and Community Affairs, sport, recreation and youth, operations expenditure summary, activity total, $6,792,000.
Agreed.
Committee agrees. We have a couple of information items. Page 351 and 352 are combined. Do we have questions on the information item, work performed on behalf of others on pages 351-352? Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wonder if the department can add further explanation under the item of the New Building Canada Plan for Small Community Fund. It’s a fairly significant amount. It’s a brand new amount, and it indicates that small community funds are “for projects in smaller communities that address local priorities while contributing to national or regional objectives.” I just want to see if the department can give us a clear picture on what that exactly means? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll refer that to Ms. Young.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Young.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The way this program was initially designed, there was a division in the budget, Small Communities Fund, and then a national/regional component where they were looking for things that were more territorial or national in nature. However, as of Budget 2016, those criteria have changed and we are just in the process of bringing an amending agreement forward. That criteria has now been eliminated and all of our communities are applying under what’s called the Small Communities Fund, which is any municipal infrastructure would be eligible. Canada decided to streamline their proposal process and those criteria have change.
Thank you, Ms. Young. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate that clarification. I think that’s good news on behalf of the communities. It certainly sounds like this significant pot of money can go towards helping the communities further reduce their infrastructure gap. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Would the Minister like to comment on that?
No, thank you, Mr. Chair. We appreciate the Member’s comments. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is, of course, this Gas Tax Fund on this page. It was my understanding that there was going to be a draft strategy that will or has been created that will outline how this fund will be spent. Could the Minister please give us an update on the status of the strategy and when it will be made available to the public? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there is no strategy that I know of. This is gas tax funding that we’ve been receiving since 2005, and we’ve been getting basically the same amount every year. We’ve divided that amongst the communities on a per capita, as part of the funding review, and there is a certain criteria around the gas tax funding that this money can be used for. Starting I think last year there was an increase to the gas tax funding, an increase of two per cent. My understanding is it’s going to be a two-per-cent increase every year, or every two years there will be an increase to this fund. They do have some criteria. I mean, I’d be more than happy to provide a briefing note to the Member and Members so they can understand how the gas tax works, how the gas tax funding works, and I mean I’d be happy to share as well the amounts that are allocated to each community. I’ll provide that information to them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister’s offer to create a briefing note on this point, and I would like to take him up on that. The question I have here relates to a gas tax agreement. Is there any other line item in this budget which refers to a gas tax? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
No, there is not, Mr. Chair. This is just money that we get from the federal government and this is the only place it would show up in. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you to the Minister for that clarification. I don’t have any further questions.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, on the gas tax, it was bumped up by $6 million in the last fiscal year. I was wondering if the Minister is anticipating any sort of bump in the gas tax this fiscal year.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. For those details, I will ask Ms. Young to respond to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Young.
