Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Ng on November 22, with respect to communities unable to fulfil their municipal cap provisions.

With regard to the Member's supplementary question on the number of municipalities in financial difficulty, I would advise that those municipal corporations requiring debt recovery plans are those that are in positions of financial difficulty. Under the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, the Hamlets Act and the Charter Communities Act, municipal corporations are not supposed to incur deficits from one fiscal year to the next. Currently, there are seven municipalities in various stages of a debt recovery plan.

The municipalities for which debt recovery plans are in place are the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Arctic Bay and Clyde River. In all three cases, improvements are being made to their financial administration and the outlook for their financial recovery is good. In the hamlet of Pangnirtung, a three year debt recovery plan was completed in one year, due in part to the hiring of a qualified financial controller. The hamlet is now out of debt.

In the town of Iqaluit, a debt recovery plan is now being prepared under the direction of the municipal administrator.

In the hamlets of Lake Harbour and Igloolik, debt recovery plans are being developed by the hamlet councils, in consultation with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Thank you.