Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the previous government's term of office, there was a lot of money spent on this whole issue of the northern accord. This time I have kept expenditures quite low and I have no problem at all sharing a detailed explanation of how that $100,000 was spent with the Member. I will get that information for him by Monday. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems like I have run out of question period time. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier and it concerns the policies of this government, as I have been asking about the last couple of weeks. Policies, privatization, BIP, and affirmative action, because policies are not legislated. For example, education under the Education Act, the same checks or balances the policies are not the same as they are for legislation. My question to the Premier is, what types of checks and balances are there to make sure that the polices that are in place are actually followed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any time there is a Cabinet decision made or Cabinet direction made, we have the central agencies ensure all policies that are on the books are adhered to and followed and we do that as a government. As far as checks and balances, that is what we pay the money to the deputies for, to ensure the policies of this government are being implemented and implemented in the right way. That is the reason you are being paid as an MLA, Mr. Picco, to ensure that we follow the policies of this government, the same as I am being paid as a Premier to make sure that Ministers and myself follow the policies of this government. Thank you.

Question period is over. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to opening address. Item 10, petitions. Item 11, reports of standing and special committees. Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you. Tabling of documents. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a letter from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business to Mr. Todd on the budget of '97/98, Tabled Document No. 62-13(4). Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabling of documents. Item 14, notices of motion. Item 15, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Mr. Ng.

Bill 13, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 1997

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, March the 5th, I will move that Bill 13, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 1997, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you. Notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 16, motions. Item 17, first reading of bills. Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters. Bill 2, 8, 9 and 10 and Committee Report 2, 3, 4 and 6, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.

Agreed.

Yes, I do, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am pleased to present the 1997/98 main estimates of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Madam Chair, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs works in partnership with municipal governments and communities. The department provides training, technical advice and support for a wide range of municipal programs and services. For 1997/98, combined operations and maintenance and capital estimates of $99,970,000 are proposed for the department. This is a decrease of 8.1 percent from the combined 1996/98 main estimates. The department has a total of 162 positions. This represents an increase from the 152 positions in 1996/97, due to positions that were transferred from the Department of Safety and Public Services. Madam Chair, for 1997/98, the department is proposing capital main estimates of $24,962,000. This represents a deduction of 29.5 percent from the 1996/97 main estimates. Sixty-six percent of the department's 1997/98 capital estimates, $16.5 million, will go towards the construction of a new community infrastructure and water and sanitation facilities. About 20 percent, or $5 million, is planned to build arenas, community halls and gymnasiums. These facilities are important for active living and healthy lifestyles for community residents. A further 14 percent, or $3.4 million, is identified for land development in road construction.

The department has transferred the responsibility and control for capital land development projects in Nunavut over to the communities. Through amendments to municipal legislation currently before this House, communities will be able to borrow funds to finance land development projects. Madam Chair, the department is proposing operation and maintenance main estimates of $25,800,000 for 1997/98. Over 75 percent of this budget is transferred to community governments or other organizations through grants and contributions. As the late department for community empowerment, MACA has continued to build on its partnership with communities and other departments to increase local authority and control over programs and services. The department has taken the approach that community empowerment must be community driven if it is to succeed. Community empowerment is not about dumping government programs on communities. Communities are all at different stages of capacity and development and the pace of community empowerment must reflect and respect both the community's ability and interest to take on new responsibilities. The department's 1997/98 main estimates reflects its commitment to community development. $3,000,700 has been identified to support the community empowerment initiative. Two-thirds of this allocation will be provided directly to communities through grants and contributions. The remainder will be used by the department to increase support training and monitoring and to continue to develop and improve the initiative.

This year, the department hired nine regional community empowerment co-ordinators to work with communities and to lead this initiative in the regions. These co-ordinators are working with regional interdepartmental teams to ensure a co-ordinated approach to community development by all GNWT departments. The department has provided training and orientation to each of these teams in the areas of community assessments, community-based planning, training and development, infrastructure transfer and other related areas. Regional staff in all departments need development and training themselves if they are to work effectively with communities. The community empowerment co-ordinators have visited communities in their regions to provide community councils with a new overview of the community empowerment process. Some communities have just begun the planning process. Others are already negotiating transfers of specific programs or assets and still others are busy with other priorities.

Through community assessment and community-based planning, training and development needs will be identified and plans will be developed. These plans will focus on building capacity, developing skills in local people so they can successfully assume greater levels of responsibility. Training is a key activity for the department. Many different training programs are co-ordinated and are delivered in partnership with other organizations. In response to recommendations from this House, MACA is also improving its monitoring and evaluation function capacity. As part of the reorganization of the department, a separate division will be established to focus specifically on assessment and monitoring. Communities are facing a great deal of change. There is some confusion about these changes and what they mean to the average person living in the community. We are all facing the challenges of preparing for division and new governments in Nunavut and the west in just 25 months. These issues also impact on community governments. The relationship between community governments and the territorial government is established in legislation that is currently under review. The ways communities are funded by our government is also under review. MACA is leading these two reviews which will modernize and improve the legal legislative and financial relationship between the territorial and municipal governments. These initiatives are being developed in partnership with the NWT Association of Municipalities, the Association of Municipal Administrators and other stakeholders including other GNWT departments.

Planning for change in partnership with communities is the key and, in my view, the only way to improving municipal government in the Northwest Territories. Local governments have very real day to day issues that need to be addressed so that services to people can improve. It is our job to make sure the system changes so these improvements can occur. Sometimes that means accepting the status quo no longer works. In the current fiscal environment, the way we used to plan and deliver programs in government does not work as well as it did before. We need to find a better way to distribute scarce resources fairly. The municipal financing review will address these issues and I look forward to Members' input and recommendations. In 1997/98, as a result of these reviews, I expect to introduce legislation that will provide a strong foundation for community governments in the east and in the west. That is our goal.

Before closing, I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Infrastructure for the constructive comments and recommendations we have received from them in our meetings and through their reports. MACA simply does not have the resources to meet all the needs and requests of communities, Madam Chair. However, I believe my staff in the regions and at the headquarters are listening and responding to community concerns as best they can. I would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication to the communities they serve. Madam Chair, that concludes my opening comments. I would be pleased to respond to any questions the Members may have.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Under seniors and disabled property tax rebate, following the elimination of the homeowners' property tax rebate last year, the standing committee took a closer look at the continuing programs to provide property tax rebates to seniors and disabled northerners. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief Act authorizes tax based communities to exempt property from up to 50 percent of taxes where the property owner or owners meets the criteria under the Act, 65 years or over or disabled according to definitions in the Act. Committee Members are concerned that some homeowners are being deemed ineligible for this rebate. For example, if a house is owned by a married couple and only one partner meets the criteria for the rebate, the couple where one partner is over 65 years old and the other is not quite 65, they are not eligible for any rebate at all in the tax-based municipalities. The standing committee agrees that this was not fair. That it would be more appropriate to provide a rebate where anyone of the co-owners meets the criteria. The Act already gives the Minister discretion to exempt property in the general taxation where only one co-owner meets the criteria. If this is not acceptable to the Minister, committee Members suggest that other reasonable short term solutions should be prorated the rebate, in proportion to the number of co-owners who meet the criteria. In the example above, there are two co-owners meeting the criteria and 50 percent rebate could be provided. The extra cost for extending the rebates to properties where some but not all co-owners of the property meet the criteria, would likely be small compared to existing $155,000 annual cost of the program. In the long run, this program should be reviewed in conjunction with the other subsidy and assistance programs available to seniors and disabled northerners, most of which are administered by departments in the social envelope.

In the preliminary response to their recommendations, the Minister committed to work with the Department of Justice and have necessary amendments brought before the House by the end of the 1997/98 fiscal year. Members are encouraged by this action, but question why it will take so long to bring forward such amendments. Thank you, Madam Chair.