Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, my questions will be directed to the Premier. During the last Assembly, $5 million was allocated over two years specifically to meet crucial needs of small communities. Why is that not continued under this government? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the last Assembly we were operating under a very severe fiscal situation and at that time the government of the day foresaw that there was going to be a very severe economic downturn. So when the Assembly started, the government of the day decided that we would cut programs, so that we could take that money that we obtained by cutting programs. I think we had a target of about $132 million and that money, in turn, was used to make funding available to a number of different committees. I think we were about to cut about $65 million in programs and that’s where the $5 million came from to make available to the community and sustainable and rural communities.
This government, the 17th Assembly, decided that we were not going to cut programs, that we were going to maintain programs, although we had a very tight fiscal situation. We managed our way through the fiscal situation, and I should point out that we have a number of committees and none of the committees have any funding allocated to them to dispense. The committee that you reference is there to provide advice to the government and Cabinet on very unique conditions that small and rural communities face.
The public probably does not understand how spending recommendations made by the Rural and Remote Communities would be handled by the government. Will the Premier describe the process for us?
We have a committee made up of a combination of Cabinet Ministers and MLAs. We have three Cabinet Ministers and five MLAs on the Committee on Sustainability of Rural and Remote Communities. The terms of reference provide that it would provide advice to Cabinet.
The way I would see it is that this committee, we would have to work it so that it can tie into the budget process so that their recommendations can be provided on a timely basis, in time that they could be considered when we do capital planning and our main estimates.
What are the government’s key priorities for improving services and infrastructure in rural and remote communities?
Obviously, we want communities in the rural and small communities to have a similar quality of life to other communities in the Northwest Territories. I’ve always said that one shouldn’t be penalized because of where they live, so we would endeavour to try to work in that regard.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Premier when he first began saying the past government was facing a little financial difficulty, like most of the country. In the small communities, not much has changed since then.
When will the communities see more programs being offered, and will this government continue that $5 million in this government?
We would have to work with all Members of this Assembly to try to address that decision. At this point in time, we are just starting our main estimates process, and there are tremendous demands for fiscal resources, and if the Legislative Assembly feels that that’s the direction we should go in, obviously we look at all of these parameters when we do our main estimates.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
