Thank you. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. Madam Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I apologize. Perhaps, I was not clear in my first response to the Member's question. It is not intended that anything other than infrastructure would be transferred in this pilot project. It is only about the transfer of infrastructure. It is not about the transfer of programs. We are really just talking about something that the hamlets are already doing, which is taking care of buildings in the community, taking care of assets and expanding that to include the non-municipal buildings and assets in each community and to look at the capital planning function. One of the frustrations that communities have had, and this probably is not restricted to the Keewatin, is that as the money available for capital projects has been shrinking, communities want to have more meaningful say about what actually gets built with the dollars that are available. One of the reasons that the mayors have been advancing this proposal is because it would allow them to make sure their community priorities are reflected in a much more direct way in the budget that we would bring forward to the House, which would still be approved by this Legislative Assembly. So that is, perhaps, a clarification I should have given earlier. I apologize. Thank you.

Thank you. Your time is up, Mr. Miltenberger. I have Mr. Roland and Mr. Rabesca. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. I have Mr. Christensen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Typically, early in the calendar year about this time communities are requested to provide advice to the department on how they see their priorities for projects that are eligible for funding under our programs and this is incorporated into our capital forecasting plan and into the overall government's capital planning process. The time that community governments typically have to review and consider their situation and advise the department is somewhere in the neighbourhood of two to three months, typically, January through to the end of March. After that time, we take that information, I should say in the intervening period the department staff would have had an opportunity to sit down and discuss with hamlet councils and their administrations or other community governments and their administrations, and talk to them personally about changes that have occurred over the last year, what new priorities there are, new project needs and so on. After that, all of the project requests that have come from communities are consolidated into a departmental capital plan which would normally occur in late April or May. That gives a general sense of the timeframe that we are working with for our capital planning process. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Community operations. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. Madam Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the main difference would be the communities would like to be able to make some of the trade-offs between departmental budgets that right now are very difficult for us to make after the budget is already approved. For example, if a community decided its priority was for a classroom extension, for example, and it was prepared to defer the construction of a garage or an upgrade to a road in order to get that classroom extension, what the Keewatin mayors are talking about is having the flexibility to be able to make that kind of decision at a local level. That is not a flexibility that communities currently have. What we are really doing with the proposal is trying to figure out a way that we could give them that kind of input while still preserving the ability of the House to vote the budget and for there to be full disclosure in the House as to what it is that communities want to build. We are really struggling to find a way in tough times to give communities some very meaningful input into what their priorities are. The difference would be communities would have an earlier opportunity to suggest those kinds of trade-offs and because they would be block funded for all of their capital they would be able to make those trade-offs in a way that is extremely difficult for us to do now. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Qujannamiik. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. Madam deputy minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I think the way it would have to work is that we would have to start the whole process much earlier than we do. When we were out for community consultation and had a sense of community priorities, they would set those priorities having some idea of what the total capital budget for the region was across all departments. You would have to roll that up and say there are x million available for your region. Now here is the whole GNWT capital plan for the region. Typically, we have many more requests than we can fund with the total capital which is available. We would say to communities within that amount of money that will be available for your region, tell us how you would set the priorities. We would need to do that far enough in advance that we would bring in a budget here in each department, that would reflect their share of the available capital but would reflect their priorities. I do need to add, there is still a need for the government to ensure those capital projects we would see as being critical in communities. Those would be projects that would be concerned with public health or safety. We would be communicating very clearly with communities about the need for those projects to stay in the plan where they were. This is something I do not really see as being a problem because communities care very much about having a safe water supply, safe roads, et cetera. I do not see that as being insurmountable. I think communities would want the same things for public health and safety. Beyond that there is capital that communities might see as being quite discretionary and may not have a huge impact from our perspective as to whether a project proceeded in one year or the next. It is in that area that communities are looking for the ability to tell us the order in which they think projects should be proceeding in their communities and in their region. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. Madam Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I think what the mayors would be looking for is the ability to direct the management group at the regional level which would be in charge of their capital planning program and in charge of specialist technical services. The type of technical services that each community cannot afford to have one of each. That would still be held at the region. Resources would be managed by them and they would be accountable to communities on how those resources would be managed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. I have, Mr. Rabesca. You wanted to speak, Mr. Rabesca?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My general comment is regarding the community operation and activity.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister of MACA, in reviewing the capital forecast for the community of Rae-Edzo, I noticed there is no reference to addressing the $2.3 million retrofit of Rae-Edzo water and sewer system. As you are aware through the numerous pieces of correspondence both through the hamlet and Public Works and Services, there is a problem with the system and needs to be addressed. How does the department plan to deal with the issue? Again, this is another item that has been an ongoing issue for many of my community over a number of years in the communities. During the last year's construction period, Rae-Edzo contracted a local contractor to establish four new lots in Edzo. While this contract was completing an underground pipe into these lots, a problem was discovered. It has been my understanding that a section of water pipe in Edzo is not being used. To illustrate the problem I will quote from the letter dated November 18, 1997 from Bruce Leblanc, at the time acting superintendent. It is my understanding that during one severe winter, in the 1970s, the above noted water main froze and split. In order to provide water to the community, Public Works and Service connected an abandoned 75 main meter raw water pipe that was running parallel to the damaged main, between hydrant number three and four and rebuilt the pipes. I do not know why this 200 millimetre line was not replaced the following summer, as one might have expected. My review in the capital budget for MACA, I do not see where there has been an increase to the appropriate budget items for Rae-Edzo. Could the Minister inform us as to what happens to the funding issue here? What timeframe does the Minister have to resolve the lack of funding the community of Rae-Edzo is experiencing in comparison to other communities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Rabesca. For the record, I have Mr. Rabesca, Mr. Krutko and Mr. O'Brien. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know my ADM has been dealing with the community of Rae-Edzo, since the Member for Rae-Edzo has brought some of the issues up in this House. My ADM, Mr. Vern Christensen, has been dealing with the community and talking with the regional superintendent on these issues so I will ask him to respond instead. Thank you.