Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the North is famous for our love of unique place names and Tin Can Hill is no exception. This beloved green space, located behind Rat Lake, is celebrated by new and longterm residents alike. It is where the snowmobile trail gets you out of the city, down to the lake, and across the bay in the winter. It was where the boats from across the lake would dock to resupply the town and where you can see evidence of our rich mining history at the old Con Mine. On Tin Can Hill, you can play and explore and walk on the 2.7billionyearold volcanic rock that underlies our town. It’s where the city’s folks run, walk, or bike extensive trail loops while conveniently remaining within the city. And recently the city and ECE decided it would be a good place for the new Yellowknife campus of the polytechnic university.
Madam Speaker, I understand why ECE decided to propose a standalone campus versus a downtown integrated approach. Without a standalone campus, there is no way enough funding can be secured. In other words, Madam Speaker, to fund the future polytechnic, the GNWT needs a "big ticket ask" to bring in "big ticket funding.” A plan that would incorporate existing buildings on a rental or leased basis would never get the fiscal support that it needs. As we all know, the feds love to give us capital money while operations and maintenance funding is generally not included.
Madam Speaker, my constituents, and other residents, are still reeling from the surprise announcement that the GNWT wants to build on Tin Can Hill. I understand that the engagement part is to begin now but clearly before this, nothing was done in a transparent manner.
The facilities master plan, submitted as part of the federal ask, shows all traffic to the campus entering through School Draw Avenue, an area that will become a bottleneck for traffic. People will also cut through the nearby Copper Sky complex to reach 52nd Street causing safety issues for residents there. As well, the plan calls for 50 percent of students to find housing in Yellowknife’s rental market. How? Our residential vacancy rate will be zero by this spring, dropping from its current 1.9 percent, and there appears to be very little construction planned once current projects are complete. All this will lead to longterm tenants, including many pensioners and lowincome families, to be forced from their homes due to rising rents and neighbourhood gentrification.
When asked, the department’s response is that this will all be sorted out through the engagement process. However, Madam Speaker, if this consultation leads to a resounding no from residents, my question is, will the Department listen? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
