Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, residents of Fort McPherson are paying astronomical water bills as the hamlet tries to correct a difficult financial situation on the backs of homeowners. Mr. Speaker, I heard a number of concerns this week from constituents whose water services are being reduced to once a week. People were aware of the hamlet’s financial problem and how that impacts their bills, but now they are in arrears, Mr. Speaker. People who make an honest effort to make payments on time and provide clean and healthy homes for their families. Mr. Speaker, these people do not live in subsidized housing. Many of them are doing all they can to save water and be resourceful in the community where the cost of living is already high. My constituents believe that the situation is not the homeowners’ fault, nor their responsibility to get the hamlet out of its millions of dollars of debt. Mr. Speaker, the homeowners of Fort McPherson are hit the hardest, paying the high price for the inaction of government. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs should have intervened in the hamlet’s mishandling of funds before the situation got completely out of control. Homeowners don’t understand how reducing water delivery to their homes is going to pay down the hamlet’s debt or why they should be forced into arrears themselves as the hamlet struggles to recover financially. Mr. Speaker, it is no wonder people fall into arrears when their water bills are easily $250 to $300 per month or more. Add to that heating fuel and firewood, groceries, gasoline, and caring for elders and children. People are borrowing from family members to pay their water bills, Mr. Speaker. Even when they have paid in full, some of them are still waiting for days to get water. Mr. Speaker, I urge the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs to look into the situation as soon as possible and work with the department and the community to find a solution before many more water tanks run dry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
