Thank you. Madam Minister.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. That has been raised before by other Members and we will be dealing with it in the municipal financing review. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Qujannamiik. Community development. Mr. Krutko.

Qujannamiik. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe we have the detail here. I will have Mr. Christensen read it. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Krutko. Mr. Christensen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The process will be, now that we are in the capital planning cycle already for the next fiscal year 1998/99, we are about to review a planning study with the hamlet. It has been undertaken with the result of work that has occurred over the course of the last year. While the current capital forecasting plan shows funding not starting much later in the five-year capital plan, this new information will be brought to bear for the next planning cycle. We have an opportunity to review the whole planning related to improvements to the water treatment facilities in Fort McPherson and they will be reflected in adjustments to the capital planning forecasts that comes out in preparation for the next budget year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. We are gradually moving into detail of capital, as we speak. Do we want to read out the number on page 4-16 community development and move on to capital so we can discuss the item at the concern of Members? No? Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These are good observations and we will take that into consideration. Thank you.

Thank you. Community development, operation and maintenance. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. The honourable Minister Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am aware of the curling rink proposal that the community was asking for. We will be reviewing the scheduling of the curling rink project in Fort McPherson as part of the '98/99 capital planning process which is now in process and the superintendent of MACA for Inuvik will be contacting the hamlet council further in this regard. Thank you.

Thank you. Community development. Mr. Krutko. Thank you. Community development. I have Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Ootes, and Mr. Steen. Right after Mr. O'Brien we will take a break. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my question I have is a general question regarding community transfers. Mr. Chairman, I have stated on a number of occasions in this House that I fully support community empowerment and the community transfers providing that the transfers are done in a manner where the communities have sufficient training, sufficient funding, and it is not in any way seen as dumping or downloading or whatever the magic words are that some people use to describe these transfers. Aside from the benefits that a community would gain, for example, they would have the benefit of having the responsibility and the authority to control their own destiny and manage their own affairs. Has there been any cost benefit analysis done on these transfers to the communities or to the NWT as a whole, which is as important as any other factor?

Thank you. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, there has been an analysis done by the department in that and I can get Mrs. Ballantyne to give him more detail. Thank you.

The deputy minister, Mrs. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, right now the GNWT, through the various departments, spend quite a bit of money on administration of programs. Part of the reason we spend as much as we do in that area is because of the duplication between the different departments in the administrative area. Part of the premise for the community empowerment initiative is that by combining a number of activities at the community level under local administration, then the savings that are realized through the consolidation of activities that money can then be used on other community priorities. Right now there is a significant amount of every program dollar that is spent on administration and it is really a consequence of each department running everything from Yellowknife right down to the community level through the regional operations.

What we would like to see communities able to do through community empowerment is to combine a number of activities and maintenance is a good example. In every small community in the Northwest Territories, DPW has a garage and a workshop. The Housing Corporation has the same, the local hamlet office has the same. If all of those functions can be combined under the hamlet then there are savings. Cape Dorset has had some significant success in this area by combining the warehouse, by consolidating the equipment and the tools. The other good thing that happens in those situations is that you get some of the more highly skilled staff able to provide apprenticeship opportunities to others who may previously not have had that opportunity. Those are the plus sides.

As Members have been pointing out, we are trying to balance that with any additional cost or cutbacks in programs that the communities are also needing to take into account. Overall, we need all of that information on the table before communities. The analysis needs to be done at the local level to make sure that in each specific case it is going to be not only cost effective but that we will not see reduction in the level of service to the public as a result of the transfer. Many more objectives in place than simply us transferring a program. It is very much meant to be an opportunity for communities to take control over the programs and services that do matter to local people. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Brien.