Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering if I can inquire with our law clerk: part 3 of clause 6 says, "The Commissioner and Executive Council may make regulations for the purposes of the section prescribing form or content of the report." Is it conceivable that the details of this amendment that is before the House right now could be accommodated with clause 3? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister keeps talking about priority projects and prioritizing municipal infrastructure needs, and that sounds like a different process than what this funding is. Can he just clarify if the municipal funding gap is somehow conditional on municipal priorities or if it's funding that is flowed through to the municipalities? Because the issue I am talking about is funding that flows through as a transfer to our community governments that they can then use. The Minister is talking about working on priorities, which are, you know, a completely different ball game, so...

We have a capital budget -- and the Ministers laugh at this request. This is a request that has been brought forward by the NWTAC. This is a request that has been brought forward by community leaders time and time again, and, to be met with laughter now? Mr. Speaker, we have an upcoming capital budget that includes funding for municipalities. Is there a way that this Minister will advocate for our communities, in consideration of that budget?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As per my Member's statement, the state of community funding in the Northwest Territories has a major problem, and we have known about this problem for a long time. I would like to know what the Minister responsible of Municipal and Community Affairs has done to properly address the deficits and shortfalls in the municipal funding formula. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the point that the Member is raising is fundamentally around the role of Members who are participating in committees such as this one to determine the merits of legislation in a detailed clause-by-clause review and proposed amendments, which is an inherent privilege of Members and an inherent role of the House in exercising its own independence, so the House is allowed to pursue its duties that are important for the passage of laws. To have outside interference either in the form of a consideration that has been raised by a third party that is, in fact...

Thank you kindly. Speaking to the motion, I think that there is, of course, a real need for independent regulators in any jurisdiction, but these annual reports are important for the public's right to know about what regulators have been doing. I know there has been some concern that a prescriptive list is somehow impinging on the independence of the regulator, but I don't think that's, in fact, true in this case. As the honourable Member for Frame Lake said, this is laying out the decision points that are already in existence in the act and ensuring that there is guidance in the issuance of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Bill 37, An Act to Amend the Oil and Gas Operations Act; Committee Report 24-18(3), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on the Review of Bill 48, Post-Secondary Education Act; and Bill 48, Post-Secondary Education Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The federal government comes through with the gas tax funding; it comes through with additional money. This is not a federal issue. This is our issue. We created this formula, and we are not funding it. That is the issue here. This gap is entirely the responsibility of this government, no other government. I am sure the municipal governments respect what the Minister is bringing forward in support to get those federal dollars, but it's not enough. We need to plug it here, so has the Minister met with the newly elected mayor in council since the last election, and the NWTAC, and heard from them...

Well, this is not just something that Members are getting pressure from now. It's something that Members have advocated for for four years, since we got elected, and to hear that it's going to be the next government's problem is a naked example of passing the buck to our successors. What can be done in this sitting to address these issues?

---Laughter