Agreed.

I also need consent of your seconder, Mr. Pollard. Thank you.

---Withdrawn

Item 15, motions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Lewis.

Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with my motion, the appointment of a Member to the Advisory Committee on Social Housing.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to address his motion. Are there any nays?

Nay.

I hear a nay. I am sorry, unanimous consent is denied. Item 17, second reading of bills. The honourable Member for Hay River, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe that Bill 13, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 1993-94, be read for the second time. Madam Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1994. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Your motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Bill 13, has had second reading and accordingly stands referred to committee of the whole. Item 17, second reading of bills. Item 18, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters: Bill 1, Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1994-95; Committee Report 2-12(5), Review of the 1994-95 Main Estimates; Minister's Statement 5-12(5), Session Business; Tabled Document 1-12(5), Towards an NWT Mineral Strategy; Tabled Document 2-12(5), Building and Learning Strategy; Tabled Document 11-12(5), First Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner of the NWT for the Year 1992-93; and, Bill 13, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 1993-94, with Mr. Lewis in the chair.

I will call the committee to order. On Friday, the committee was about to deal with the estimates of the Department of Education. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Dent.

Is it the wish of Members to continue with Bill 1 and Committee Report 2-12(5)?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Your motion is in order, Mr. Dent. To the motion.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Department Of Municipal And Community Affairs

Introductory Remarks

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The department continues to deliver on its long standing mandate to fund or directly provide operating assistance programs to municipal governments and communities for municipal programs and services. Although the limited fiscal resources available to our government continue to pose a major challenge, we believe that the present level of O and M support to municipal governments and communities is enabling them to meet the needs of their community residents for good, basic and diverse municipal services.

For the 1994-95 fiscal year, O and M estimates of $64.553 million are proposed. This is a modest increase of 3.3 per cent over the 1993-94 main estimates. There are no person year increases proposed for the department for 1994-95. The 1993-94 levels of 147.8 permanent and 6.6 casual person years are to be maintained. The department is continuing to carefully examine ways of better utilizing its human and financial resources to safeguard, as much as possible, for community-oriented programs rather than on overhead costs.

For this year, the department's budgetary increases are proposed for the following major areas: hamlet transfer payments which constitute a major component of the department's O and M funding. This funding is provided directly through contribution to hamlets and charter communities, and accounts for about 49 per cent of all departmental O and M grants and contributions and about 38 per cent of the department's entire O and M estimates.

Support from this government to these non-tax-based municipalities remains crucial. Additional funding of $684,000 is proposed to meet increased O and M costs of new municipal infrastructure and for inflationary cost increases.

Our government continues to emphasize the vital role of good community recreation programs in strengthening community well-being and offering positive focuses for the youth of the north. Additional funding of $400,000 is proposed to provide communities with base funding support under the recreation leadership salary subsidy program, which enables community government to hire qualified recreation leaders and recreation facility maintainers. These key community personnel are catalysts for strong, well-planned and efficient community recreation programs. The program also provides nearly 90 person years of employment in the Northwest Territories.

An additional $142,000 is proposed in order to meet forced growth requirements for maintenance of community recreational facilities, under the recreational facilities operating subsidy and the municipal operating assistance policy.

Under the grants in lieu of property taxes policy, the Government of the Northwest Territories pays grants in lieu to the city of Yellowknife, and to towns and villages for GNWT-owned properties eligible under this policy.

An additional $152,000 in forced growth is requested for municipal equalization transfer payments to tax-based municipalities. Additional funding of $112,000 is being proposed due to an increase in the number of dwelling units against which the municipal equalization formula is calculated, as well as an inflationary increase.

I wish to point out that municipal O and M funding for the city of Yellowknife is provided under the GNWT city block funding agreement, which commences its second year on April 1, 1994. Under this three year agreement, the level of GNWT funding for the city's municipal capital and O and M programs is set at $4.100 million annually. For support to settlements, additional funding of $253,000 is requested to meet operating costs for new infrastructure in smaller communities.

Your committee has previously expressed concerns about the level of funding support for settlements or other small communities with developing forms of local government. I want to assure this committee that the department is making progress in developing settlement capital and operating assistance policies, and I expect to submit them to Cabinet for consideration this winter. Mr. Chairman, I believe that the proposed O and M estimates for Municipal and Community Affairs provide a budget with broad scope to address the basic needs of municipal governments and community governments on a comprehensive and equitable basis. I now look forward to answering the committee's questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thanks very much, Mr. Arngna'naaq. Before we go to questions and dealing with the report of the Standing Committee on Finance, I request to take a short break. The meeting is recessed.

---SHORT BREAK

I would like to call the committee back to order. Before the recess we had received some opening comments from the Minister. Does the Standing Committee on Finance have a report to make. Mr. Zoe.

Standing Committee on Finance Comments