Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At my constituency meeting last week I spent considerable time discussing one huge concern, one that’s been an ongoing issue for 15 years for Northland mobile home residents.
Northland mobile home park is a neighbourhood of 258 homes in central Yellowknife and houses 1,100 people. As Members know, the infrastructure in the park is in dire need of replacement, and the lack of political will to address this emergency situation is frightening.
I was asked by one of my constituents the other night, do they -- meaning governments -- realize how serious this is. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think any government realizes how serious it is, and I am not exaggerating when I say the water and sewer systems in Northland could completely fail at any moment. Literally at any moment.
The repercussions of that failure will be catastrophic for the City of Yellowknife, the GNWT, and the Government of Canada. Let me tell you how. Firstly, should the Northland infrastructure collapse, the area would be condemned. Having raw sewage underneath homes does not meet our public health standards.
The 1,100 people living in Northland would be forced out of their homes. The vacancy rate in Yellowknife at the moment is just .8 percent. Many residents would have no other place to live and would move out of the territory, leaving their jobs and their homes behind. As Northland residents leave the NWT, we will lose money, a lot of money, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to lose money every year long after they are gone.
The NWT receives $24,221 per person in transfer payments from the Government of Canada annually. If all 1,100 people in Northland leave, the GNWT will lose over $26 million in federal transfer payments. If only half of them go, it’s only $13 million lost. We can’t afford that loss of revenue in either case. What services will we cut to account for that loss of revenue?
As well, Mr. Speaker, many Northland residents are employees of government; municipal, territorial and federal governments. They are our health care and child care workers, our engineers, our policy and program analysts, our front-line and mid-level office workers, teachers, mining industry employees. Two to three hundred workers or more leaving the community at the same time will create vacancies that employers will not be able to fill. There will be a huge impact on our government services and NWT businesses.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to my colleagues. When parents move, so do their children. Fifty percent of the population of Northland is children in school. Consider the negative impact on school budgets and school district staff when those children move out.
Along with school district revenues decreasing, the City of Yellowknife will see a $400,000 drop in their tax revenue. More jobs lost, more services cut.
Mr. Speaker, the scope of the problem at Northland extends far beyond just the replacement of the water and sewer infrastructure. It’s an extraordinary situation but it’s an emergency situation. This government can be proactive and help with the problem now or sit back, do nothing, and deal with the much larger problem when it arises, when the systems fail and the Northland neighbourhood is condemned.
Cooperation and coordination are needed to tackle this urgent issue and prevent the 1,100 Northland residents from becoming homeless. Is the GNWT up to that challenge? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
