Debates of February 11, 2005 (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as always, there is no shortage of big issues to talk about here but, this being a Friday, I would like to join in on the actions of the Member for Nahendeh…

---Applause

Hear! Hear!

…and fight for the children of Nahanni Butte. Mr. Speaker, we should all be ashamed…

Ashamed.

…that there is no indoor gymnasium in any community in our territory, Mr. Speaker. What is our criteria? There should be no community with no gym, and that's the case with Nahanni Butte. What are the children of Nahanni Butte supposed to do in the thick of the winter months? Mr. Speaker, apparently in the North you have to go to jail to get a good gym.

---Laughter

Ooh! .

A young offenders centre in Yellowknife has a gym, Mr. Speaker. We've spent millions on saving the secondary diamond industry that we're talking about, and offices in Yellowknife spend millions renovating. What do the children of Nahanni Butte think when they look at the Legislative Assembly and say we have no place to play soccer, and look at these MLAs? Mr. Speaker, I would like to know the government standard. Couldn't there be a rule that says every community should have a school, hospital, and an indoor gym?

Hey, a hospital.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 368-15(3): Gymnasium Needed In Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many of our communities in the North are very young compared to other jurisdictions. A lot of our communities are not even 60 years in existence, and we are struggling to meet the infrastructure requirements. We have just recently done an assessment of all our communities across the Territories. We recognize that there are a lot of infrastructure needs and we're not meeting them, especially in the small communities. It's good to hear that a representative from a tax-based-municipality would encourage us to spend more money in the smaller communities.

---Applause

We are looking at it and we agree; there should be some standards. However, infrastructure has a cost, a price tag on it. We are looking at our standards and criteria and guidelines that we're using. We would like to put recreation infrastructure back on the radar screen and into the communities, and we are intending to work on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 368-15(3): Gymnasium Needed In Nahanni Butte

Let me correct the hospital, to read health centre; sorry. Mr. Speaker, let me be really serious. I can see the planning process, but my understanding is that there is no gymnasium planned for Nahanni Butte until 2017. I would say, Mr. Speaker, that is taking planning a little far there. That is 12 years from now. That's not acceptable. There has to be a better way to plan this. Mr. Speaker, I remind the Minister when he was on this side of the floor, he talked non-stop about the need…

Ooh!

…and the lack of representation of youth from small communities in big sporting games. Now he has all the power in the world. He's a Minister of sport.

---Applause

He's the Minister of MACA. It's about time that he put his money where his mouth is and build a gym next year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 368-15(3): Gymnasium Needed In Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member gives me more credit than I actually have in terms of authority and power. Mr. Speaker, we can't just come out and start to just one-off and pick out one facility for one community. We have to start looking at our plan. We have, in our budget, that we're going to be voting on during the session, indicated that we need $1 million to do some planning. We need some consultation work, we have to start putting it in order. We also have to work on how the MRIF money is going to flow out to the different communities. We have to start developing and designing criteria. We have already set up a number of meetings with the NWT Association of Communities to do that. We still have to sign an agreement on the gas tax for the $37.5 million for infrastructure, so there is a lot of work. I can’t just stand up in this House and decide what projects will go where, and I refuse to do that. My method of dealing with the communities is to consult with them, have their input and then we will decide where the money will be served best. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 368-15(3): Gymnasium Needed In Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suggest that there is a lot of gap for him to close between getting up here and making a commitment to a gym willy-nilly and to plan something like this 17 years later. I think there is a lot of room there for him to close. Mr. Speaker, I’m not talking about federal funding and all the other stuff, but doing with what you have. We are talking $1 million. The Minister of Health and Social Services is talking about healthy living, active living, kids having a place. What are they supposed to do in the wintertime? I think this is more than just the recreational…

Shame.

...it’s a necessity and we are talking about some $46 million dollar surplus.

Hear! Hear!

Is there not room for a $1 million gym for one community that has no indoor facilities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 368-15(3): Gymnasium Needed In Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly I can appreciate the Member's concern for the small communities. We have a number of communities that need gyms. The price tag on a gym is $1.5 million to $2 million. If we start adding the number of communities, which are Nahanni Butte, Enterprise, Kakisa, Detah and Gameti, we are looking at over $10 million if we start factoring in all the communities that we need.

We would like to be able to address their needs in recreation in the next little while. We have some money, we have some flexibility now that we didn’t have for many years, but at the same time we have a huge infrastructure deficit. Over the next 10 years we were anticipating probably around $400 million infrastructure requirement needs. So we have to really plan out and make sure our dollars are put where it would be best. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 368-15(3): Gymnasium Needed In Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister has the need to lump this project with every other capital project need and I think that is where the mistake is, Mr. Speaker. We are talking about a very few communities in the Territories with no indoor facility, and even I know, as a Member from the largest city in the Territories, that an indoor gym is more than an indoor gym in communities. That is where they have tea dances and they have their meetings and it’s where the communities gather. So I am saying don’t lump them up with the big places like Wha Ti and Gameti in this context. We are talking about a community with no indoor gym, no indoor facility, and there should be an exception for that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 368-15(3): Gymnasium Needed In Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly will consider that. We are considering it. We are not lumping in Nahanni Butte with bigger centres. Kakisa, in fact, is smaller than Nahanni Butte, and they don’t have a gym. So we have to consider that and it’s not as if we are totally ignoring the communities. Most of the communities…Every community, in fact, has a multi-purpose hall that can be substituted for a gymnasium. It’s not the requirements to meet standards of a gym, but we also have been investing in new centres in communities, so a gymnasium is something that has been put on the agenda. We are considering it. I appreciate the Member's recommendation. We will certainly consider it seriously. Thank you.

And Detah.