Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I spoke about the transfer of governments to communities. Now I have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, has the Minister reviewed the issue of the GNWT deferring maintenance on the buildings that will ultimately be transferred to the communities and has the fact that deferring maintenance on the buildings and the lack of maintenance as a result of that being considered prior to the transfers? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has reviewed the issue of deferred maintenance. It is in recognition of the impact of the deferred maintenance, that being instrumental in MACA securing an increase in its operation and maintenance funding for the community from a whole average of $17 million a year to over $60 million today. In 2006-07, an independent consultant was hired to complete the community infrastructure assessment on the physical condition of community access. It is using that information. That information was provided to the community with the studies for their own infrastructure for their own use in developing their capital plan. Thank you.
I would like to ask the Minister if there is a preventive maintenance program in place for all of the assets, including mobile equipment, that are being transferred from the department or from the GNWT to communities. Thank you.
The department would provide the framework for all the deferred maintenance on all the assets in the community. The community can take that and submit and do their own community preventative maintenance plan based on the framework provided to them by MACA. Thank you.
Can the Minister advise me if there are budget numbers in the capital plan for communities to complete midlife retrofits for the assets that are being transferred from the GNWT to communities? Thank you.
There are budget numbers in the capital plan. It would be the community’s capital plan that these budget numbers would be in.
Mr. Speaker, the responsibility for capital was transferred over to communities and the old funding method meant that the communities would have to compete with all GNWT projects. So now they have the ability to do their own capital plan and it would be the department’s desire and intent to assist them in putting these capital plans together so they can work on their plan for a few years down the road. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister advise me if, in the transfer of the capital plan, the Government of the NWT has considered in the capital plan that there will be a need for replacement of assets or purchase of new assets for the work that the community would have to do in the future? Thank you.
This is a message that I have been working on trying to get out to the community, that communities have all the responsibility. MACA will continue to give them their capital money. There is a base funding that we are hoping that is ongoing so communities can plan for future capital needs. There are other sources of money, too, that the department along with the GNWT have been trying to access to pass on to the communities. The GAP tax funding is a perfect example. That is going on for another few years. The Building Canada Fund, any other money that we are able to get from the government to use that and pass that on to the communities so that can help them meet their infrastructure needs. That is what this priority of this department is and that is what we will continue to do. The bottom line is the capital plan and the capital infrastructure are now decided on by the communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
