Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about the value of strong community governments in the Northwest Territories.
Responsive community governments are critical to support healthy, safe, and vibrant communities. To assist the community governments in their efforts, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs works closely with the NWT Association of Communities and the Local Government Administrators of the NWT to provide training, resources, and opportunities for community governments to work with and learn from each other.
The NWT Association of Communities and the Local Government Administrators of the NWT are key stakeholders in the development of the current legislative and policy framework that has provided community governments the opportunity to expand and apply their full authority as municipal governments.
Most recently, these organizations partnered with and supported MACA with the implementation of new responsibilities for the development and implementation of capital projects. With this policy shift, community governments are able to make their own decisions and develop their own infrastructure to meet the needs of the residents. They have also been able to leverage other funds made available through federal infrastructure programs, such as the Building Canada Plan and Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, to pursue new infrastructure projects that would not have been viable without these funding opportunities.
Community governments are investing in core infrastructure that benefits the health and safety of their residents.
There are examples of this progress in every community. Residents benefit from new water and waste facilities, new office buildings, and new recreation infrastructure. Thanks to this new approach, community governments are planning and implementing infrastructure projects that best meet the needs and priorities of their residents.
Community governments, through such mechanisms as integrated community sustainability planning, are engaged in long-term planning so that they can minimize the impact of staff turnover and maximize opportunities to make strategic investments to sustain local operations over the long term. The NWT Association of Communities has been integral to these efforts by expanding their service to support strategic and energy planning, and by identifying and mitigating the impacts of climate change on community governments.
MACA’s partnership with the two organizations provides a commitment to, and focus on, continuing to build capacity in community governments. Through a variety of programming such as the Public Sector Capacity Building Initiative and partnering on the delivery of training opportunities to recruit and retain community government staff, communities will benefit over time as the stability and continuity of community government administrative staff increases. Venues such as the bi-annual governance conferences sponsored by MACA and the annual general meetings of the NWT Association of Communities and the Local Government Administrators of the NWT provide opportunities to learn from other community council and staff about what is working in communities and to share successes with their peers across the Territories.
I would like to commend the work done by all 33 community governments, our partners at the NWT Association of Communities and the Local Government Administrators of the NWT in working with us to advance the 16th Legislative Assembly’s goals of sustainable, vibrant, and safe communities in the NWT.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
