Debates of March 10, 2005 (day 53)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today with questions for the Minister of MACA. I sent a question down to research and they advised me that I had mentioned Nahanni Butte 54 times, the gymnasium 29 times, so all together that's 83 times. That's almost once for every constituent in Nahanni Butte, Mr. Speaker…

---Applause

…except I'm missing three constituents, so I’m going to have to conclude this sitting by asking three more questions of the Minister.

---Laughter

Begging the chair's indulgence, I said I am astounded five times, so I'm going to have to say that two more times, because there are seven Ministers sitting over there.

---Laughter

With respect to that, can the Minister inform me what has been done to date with respect to allocating or planning for the infrastructure funding for the smaller communities? Thank you.

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

Return To Question 584-15(3): Planning For Infrastructure In Small Communities

Mr. Speaker, I am astounded that the Member would ask the same question so many times.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, we realize the sense of urgency that some of the Members are experiencing in wanting to get some of the answers. Our staff has been working on drafting some of the criteria that we will be using. We have had some early discussions with the NWT Association of Communities. We are still working on some of the other funding initiatives. We plan to have our MRIF funding and our gas tax all in place by some time this year, so there's a lot of work we have to do. We have scheduled a number of meetings with the NWT Association of Communities over the next little while, and we are still targeting to have some information to give to the Members so that they know, even if it's early indicators of where we're going. We have a lot of work to do in terms of reviewing what all the information is, all the projects that were in the capital plan and some that were not in the different areas that have been brought forward as a priority by some of the Members. So we are trying to package all of that up as fast as we can so we can have some information for the Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 584-15(3): Planning For Infrastructure In Small Communities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am astounded how many times I hear the same answer. Just with respect to that, Mr. Speaker, if the Minister can just tell me again…I'm travelling to Nahanni next week. What pray do I tell the people and the students and the children in Nahanni Butte? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 584-15(3): Planning For Infrastructure In Small Communities

Mr. Speaker, I guess I would advise the Member to tell the members of Nahanni Butte he has raised the issue of the Nahanni Butte gym I forget how many times, but he certainly can feel comfortable assuring them that he has brought that matter to the attention of our department and this government. We are looking at the whole issue of recreation facilities in small communities. It seems this has become a high priority. It's an issue that we have not been able to invest in for some time. So we will be giving strong consideration to the recreation facilities and facilities in general to the smaller communities that are experiencing some difficulty. So all those things we will be looking into and have some answers for the community and for the Member by the end of this month or early into April. Thank you.