Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke of the issues of tax arrears and lease arrears on the land in Tu Nedhe communities. Right now the elders are afraid that they’re going to lose their homes and so on. I’m getting calls from elders every month that get bills asking to pay right away.
This is for the Finance Minister. If the Finance Minister -- because the bills are coming from Finance -- could have officers go to visit the elder homeowners in Tu Nedhe to discuss their tax arrears with them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be happy to talk to the Member outside the Chamber to look at this issue in more detail and some possible options or plan of action that would possibly help address this longstanding issue. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it’s good I’d have a discussion with the Minister. For me, I can give him a lot of information, a lot of detail, but one of the big issues seems to be that there’s an accumulation of taxes, due to what I spoke of. There’s a common feeling in Tu Nedhe that they shouldn’t be paying taxes until the land resources and government negotiations are complete. Will the Minister direct his staff to write off the interest on the taxes and then deal with the principal at a later date? But at this point, write the interest off? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this is a longstanding issue tied into Fort Resolution being in the Akaitcho Territory and unsettled claims and Treaty 8 and the whole issue of payment of taxes. There have been a number of attempts to try to resolve this issue. There have been former chiefs that have asked for forgiveness or wiping the slate clean on a go-forward basis. Anything of that nature would require a Cabinet decision.
As I indicated, the Member has had no opportunity to discuss this particular issue in any detail, so I would once again just restate my commitment to sit down with him to talk about the issue and see what possible paths there may be forward on this. Thank you.
Will the Minister work with the Minister of MACA to then, at this point, delay any further levying of taxes to the homeowners of Tu Nedhe? Thank you.
I will commit to have a discussion with the Minister of MACA on this particular issue.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you. Will the Minister agree to stop sending out invoices and bills to the homeowners in Tu Nedhe until they’ve had a face-to-face meeting with that homeowner? Thank you.
I will commit to meet with the Member. In fact, I’ll even buy him dinner, and we can do it over dinner to talk about this issue, Mr. Speaker. Of course, other Members that are looking to have sustenance at the expense of a poor, underpaid Minister, of course I’d be happy to have them come along. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
