Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs' plan to close the funding gap that we've learned about through the municipal funding review? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are in the process of developing a long-term plan to address the funding gap for municipalities. That is a commitment. Currently what we are doing is every year, there has been an increase in some of the areas from the territorial governments, and we are leveraging with the federal government's monies to access more infrastructure money.
Communities that are at a surplus currently have been kind of topped, or are staying at that level, and then we are focusing on the communities that have a deficit with the new monies that we are bringing in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Is the Minister committed to tabling that strategy in the fall at some point? This is the last day of our sitting. Is the Minister going to table that strategy today?
No, I am sorry, we are still working on the finalization of the long-term plan, so I do apologize if I made a commitment that I would table it in the fall. I wish I would have said that we will be completing it in the fall, and not mentioning when I would table it.
Mr. Speaker, the longer the government waits to figure this out, the more pressure is going to be put on our communities who are in those deficit positions. The residents of Yellowknife are short-changed by $1 million in funding from this government, and the taxpayers have to foot the bill with the most recent City of Yellowknife budget increasing taxes because there is not enough money to pay for these essential programs the city is working on. Does the Minister think that is fair?
As stated earlier, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has actually been working quite diligently with the federal government to leverage the infrastructure monies that are coming. Communities such as the City of Yellowknife are actually getting a substantial amount of the federal infrastructure monies, whereas other communities who have a surplus are not getting that amount, so I am not a hundred per cent convinced that any tax increases to the residents of Yellowknife are only because of the $1-million shortfall.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is not the federal government's responsibility to fund our communities. It is this government's responsibility. The city's budgets are done on a calendar year. Can the Minister commit to getting this work done before the end of the calendar year so the city can have certainty about what their fiscal room is going to look like?
No, I cannot. I would have to actually talk with the department and see. I want a complete plan, not a plan that is rushed to meet political viewpoints, so I will make sure that the plan is done properly before we release that plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
