Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this government is in a difficult financial situation with restraint programs across the board. Subsequently, the hamlets and municipal corporations are in tight budget situations as everyone knows.

Mr. Chairman, I hope the users of the municipal services such as water delivery, garbage pick up, et cetera, would not have to bear the cost of having to pay extra. Mr. Chairman, I hope that the government will not, as a result of the financial situation, curtail the delivery of water, garbage pick up, et cetera. We are talking about health and sanitation. What is the Minister prepared to do when the community appropriation is in a tight situation? Would MACA ensure the community that the delivery of water and garbage pick up will not be reduced? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The water/sewage program is a closed system. If the community spends one dollar, they get back one dollar. Even if the user-pay is applied, the municipality will not lose money. They would have to bill two places, the tenant if they start paying and also the government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question is to the Minister of MACA. As a result of the financial situation of this government, territorial-wide, the municipalities across the NWT will not reduce the delivery of municipal services. As I indicated, we are talking about health and sanitation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is not going to be any reduction in the delivery of water and sewage.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask the Minister of MACA a question with regard to home owners who have to pay for their own lots. I have found that they do not like the foundation they have been provided. I am wondering if the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs provided those lots? They also have to pay so much per year for those lots and that is the only way they can stay on the lots they built their houses on. It seems like people do not have a choice of where to build their houses. Because they have to pay for the lots annually and they have to be there for so many years, if the condition of the lot is not good, it can affect the house they own. Is MACA the one responsible for providing those lots? Many people end up on lots they do not want to be on. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (Translation) People who buy their own homes write a letter to the hamlet council requesting to be on a certain lot. The hamlet then lets them know whether that lot is available. If they approve the lot the home owner wants to be on, they write us a letter. Our department does not tell them where the lot will be for the home owner, it is the hamlet council.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I did find out about some people who did not seem to have a choice. This is just a comment, not a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. One of the objectives of this department, I assume, is to assist communities in developing themselves. Years ago it used to be the Department of Local Government. We used to have settlements and now we have graduated to municipalities, villages and towns. How much effort and what emphasis on priority does the department put on the area of community development?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In terms of hamlets, we give workshops to the hamlet councillors every year. In other types of government, it is a community request. Thank you.

Some groups within communities do not have leadership abilities to mobilize themselves and, in turn, mobilize community groups to get things done for them. Some are good at it, obviously, many are not. There are also many communities, and my colleague Mr. Antoine is not here, but he has several unorganized communities. The question is how do these communities get organized in terms of community development?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a community request by these communities. We do not go out and say you should do this and do that. It is a community request. Thank you.

For some of them it is a "catch-22" situation. They want help, but if they are not organized and they do not request it, you do not go in. One of the things we are finding in our travel is a need for general community development. I guess it is difficult to put it into simple words but communities need ability to mobilize themselves. There is a lot of groups within a community and many of them are not together and do not seem to have the ability to meet and pull themselves together. There has got to be some ground work done at the community level, some mobilization of groups to get them together so they can make the requests that you are asking for. I am just wondering what we can do to help some of these communities. You know, there are band councils in place, there are hamlet councils in place, there are Metis locals in place, there are hunters and trappers, education councils, they have all these things but in some places they are not able to mobilize themselves to form a good lobby group.