Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of water quality in Fort McPherson has been an issue for a while here, and the department has been involved in trying to resolve it. I know it has been outstanding for a long time with the colour and the smell and the liquidity of the water.

I have been in Fort McPherson and they gave me a glass to drink, but I would not drink it. I am aware of the situation. In trying to resolve it, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has been working with the health board in the Inuvik region, as well as Public Works and Services.

We discussed this with the community in December. The area of THMs, which is now a health concern, has come to light. As a result of that, we tried a number of solutions.

We tried to fix the water containers and clean the pipes, but it is still not good enough. The department has issued filters as an interim measure. To date, I understand there have not been any complaints received from the community about the water quality since the introduction of the filters.

Last week, on February 15th, the acting deputy minister was in Inuvik and Fort McPherson, and held a series of meetings to discuss the water issue, including the status of the water supply and improvements. I am told Deepwater Lake has been identified as a new source of water and this project is a priority.

The department is working to try to rearrange the project financing to allow for the use of Deepwater Lake. We have an application to the Gwich'in Tribal Council for access to Deepwater Lake, since it is on the Gwich'in lands. We need to apply to have access to it. This is what the department has been doing to date. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this project of having a new and better water supply for Fort McPherson was a P3 pilot project and that has been flipped into the conventional capital projects. We will have to work towards rearranging the project financing through the normal process. This will be done through the help of the department. The department will need to arrange that and with the help of the standing committees of this House, we will have to look at that.

At the same time, since Deepwater Lake is on the Gwich'in tribal lands, and based on the discussions with the president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council last week, we anticipate the negotiations could begin on access and use of Deepwater Lake as soon as possible.

We have to prepare a management plan for the Deepwater Lake watershed as well, and a design will be carried out concurrent with the negotiations with the Gwich'in Tribal Council. Trying to acquire the permission to have access to the lake with the Gwich'in Tribal Council is going to start very soon, and refinancing internally within the department will start as soon as it can.

This takes time and we will be sure it is a priority. The health of the people in Fort McPherson is a major concern to us. We will try to move as fast as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and working with the Public Works and Services department, we will continue to make changes to the treatment, including installing holding tanks to increase the effectiveness of the treatment chemicals.

We have been testing the Brita filters in households for several months. These are just temporary measures. The end goal is to eventually have access to Deepwater Lake to have a good supply of water. These measures at this time are interim measures and we are trying to provide good water to the community. These are the initiatives we are doing now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the different departments in this government have been working together in this case, at the regional level as well as the headquarter level.

At this point in time, I am not fully briefed on the implications of the health effects regarding chemicals that are in the water. As soon as I get that kind of information, I will share it with my colleague across the floor here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, the Honourable Jim Antoine. The formula funding agreement between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the communities has recently been reviewed. Recommendations were made to make some changes to the formula to make it more fair and equitable.

In the case of one of the municipalities I represent, Rae Edzo, funds are provided by Municipal and Community Affairs to provide basic municipal services. These services include general government services, building maintenance, recreational services, and community planning.

Community governments are required to provide these services under the Hamlet Act and Chartered Communities Act. In the case of Rae Edzo, it is pointed out in one of the documents that "unique community features are not always addressed by the funding formula." The example that was given was the dual communities of Rae Edzo.

Mr. Speaker, I am worried that unless an agreement is reached which recognizes the unique situation of this twin community, the two communities will split and apply for funding separately. In this time of tight budgets, I think that it would be more cost effective to reach an agreement. Would the Minister commit to examining this issue?