Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs delivered a statement on community government funding. I would like to question some of the contents of that statement. We see the total gap. We see the $8.3 million that the government has invested into this funding gap, and we have a lot of talk about a 50 percent, covering the gap by 50 percent, all this progress that was made. However, the largest pot of funding that remains unresolved is infrastructure, so how much progress has the Minister made on closing that gap?
Mr. Speaker, I know we are going into Committee of the Whole later on and debating the budget for Municipal and Community Affairs. We want to be open with all Members of the Legislative Assembly. Something that we will be bringing up this weekend when we meet with the NWT Association and communities and their membership is that this is an area of issue. As much as we can work and try to get, secure, federal funding to address some of the infrastructure concerns, we will, and we continue to do that. Previous Ministers, previous governments, have worked on trying to reduce that gap that has been involved, and that is the message that I will be sharing with all of our mayors and our councillors this weekend. I think that the Minister's statement says what we have done, and we have seen some successes. I know that, in future governments, this government and future governments, it is going to be a challenge to close that gap, but we have made some progress. We will continue to make that progress, and we will continue to work with our partners, with the municipal and Indigenous governments, to address these issues.
The Minister just mentioned the federal government's role in this funding. His predecessor also spoke of leveraging federal funds to close this gap. I would just like to get a better understanding of this. Is the Minister saying that this formula that has been developed isn't the responsibility of the GNWT to fill? Can he answer that question?
Mr. Speaker, one of the, I guess you could say, the reputations that I have built as being a Minister is developing strong partnerships, and those partnerships do involve federal government. They involve municipal governments, Indigenous governments. We all have a role to play in this. GNWT cannot be the one-and-all to provide the services. We've got to work together to identify priorities and also address some of our core needs. It takes a partnership between all levels of government, but we do definitely play a significant role in this in terms of working with our municipal governments but also lobbying the federal government to get the funds needed to address some of the concerns that we have been hearing.
I agree. We need to support all of our communities and work together to do that, but this funding gap is no one's responsibility but the Minister's, so I am going to ask: what is he actually doing to address the other shortfalls? We have a plan for water and sewer or environmental that is 50 percent complete. It shouldn't be too hard to fill the other 50 percent, but the vast majority of the funding, there is no plan. What is the Minister doing to address this?
We have been working with our partners within the NWTAC. Since I have taken this role on, I have sat down with them, the executive, and have had these discussions. We continue to lobby the federal government. We are creating a strategy, a strategy that we have been working on for a number of years. As I mentioned, you know, I will be open. This government is not going to be able to, probably, close that funding gap. The next government might not be able to close the funding gap, or the government after that. I mean this is something that we've got to address, and some of these are long-term lives of our assets, so we need to address the priorities of our communities on working with other elected officials to move forward.
Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you. Look, I have to compliment the Minister's honesty. It is hard for politicians to break promises on the floor of the House like that. This is our responsibility. This is something we must accomplish. Will the Minister commit to rebalancing this formula so it is a realistic formula, in partnership with the NWTAC? Will he commit to either doing that or fully funding this? There are only two options.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are creating a strategy. I don't know where I broke a promise. You know, I have only taken this position on for about a year, so I think some Members need to be walking a fine line in how they make statements, first of all. We are going to continue to work with our municipal leaders, our federal partners. As I mentioned, for the record, I did not break any promises on this strategy, and we are going to continue to work on that strategy, and we will table it by the end of this government. As I mentioned, I am being honest. I don't think this government is going to be able to close that gap. We have met with mayors and officials. I have met with the NWTAC executive to address the funding gap, and I think there is a good understanding of everybody involved at the table. We will continue to do that, and we can't tie the next government into funding dollars that are going to be tying their hands together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
