Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too have similar concerns as Mr. McLeod, especially in the small communities where people have seen a major increase in regard to their property tax assessments. Also, the overall cost of living has skyrocketed, especially with people with private homes with the high fuel costs. In Aklavik, the cost of fuel is 74 cents per litre.
I think that as a government, we have to relook at how we are allocating funds to a lot of these communities. A lot of these communities do not even have the basic infrastructure or the resources in their communities to upgrade the facilities, the roads and what not that they have in their communities.
For the amount of money we have seen in the budget, it does not really keep up with the cost of inflation or the cost of operating in a lot of these communities. For myself, what I have seen within the communities I represent, they do have a real problem with the new provision for the way the formula is going to be funded. We as a government have to realize the effects on the communities, or a lot of the unforeseen costs associated with running a municipality have to be taken into account. There has to be a mechanism where those situations will be allowed for.
In a lot of communities, we do not have the infrastructure of recreation opportunities. I will use Aklavik, for instance. They have been hounding me for some time to ensure that they get a curling club. They have a curling rink which is old. It has been condemned and it has been shut down. Yet we talk about community wellness and empowering communities and giving communities the abilities to make decisions. It seems like for them to look at capital allocation, it is still being dictated by headquarters to the Inuvik office where they are limited on what capital they can really allocate in the communities. When it comes to prioritizing those capital items, they have to wait for these items to be constructed or built, because over the last four years, a lot of capital items have been cut out. It has been moved out into the budget. For many of these communities, the little things we take for granted like recreation facilities, we have to try to put more emphasis on that. I feel the government has to do more in that area.
Also with regard to the government's responsibility with the whole water quality argument and issue, this government has to find a means to ensure the health and well-being of the communities are taken into account. We have to have a better system in place of monitoring and ensuring we are meeting standards, but also have the accounting system in place so we can see what the tests are showing. Are we above or below the Canadian national standards? How much are we over? How long has it been? Has it fluctuated?
In the case of Fort McPherson, the THM levels are still 100 percent over the Canadian standard, yet the response I receive from the Minister clearly states that we are within Canadian standards. Without the data and information to back that up, it is really hard to track.
The whole question has come up about the liability of municipalities. I think a lot of communities and municipalities will have second thoughts, realizing that if any major incidents happen where you see major lawsuits being filed, I think a lot of people who run for council or even run the municipalities will really want to know, at the end of it all, am I liable for something that may have happened to a previous councillor, a previous government initiative?
I think that has to be clearly looked at, realizing that the liability of a lot of our infrastructure and water treatment facilities or even our sewage lagoons in our communities, will be the responsibility of the municipalities if they take these over. If they do take it over, do they have a long-term assurance from the government that it will be an asset on the government's books? That the government will be responsible to take on that liability in the long term? I feel that is a question now being asked by many municipalities regarding how they are going to handle the overall infrastructure in their communities. Do they even want to take them over? That has to be looked at.
The other area is the overall seniors' disability property tax relief program. I mentioned in the House this morning that I got a call from an 80-year-old lady who has her own home. She has been living in that home for quite some time and yet today she is still paying her property taxes. We have a program that is there to assist people. We should do everything in our power to reach out to those people and have somebody go from the hamlet office to that elder's home to explain to her the rebate is there and offer assistance to fill it out. There is no need for that.
The concern I have is how long has she been paying and what is her chance of getting back the fund that she has paid over the years, which will add up to quite a few dollars, especially if you are a pensioner and a widow. You need those resources to get you through for the next number of years. This government has to do more to ensure there is coordination between the departments who deliver programs for residents. I do not feel comfortable when a Minister says that is not my responsibility, this is my responsibility and anything outside of that responsibility, I do not have a say or I am not involved in that.
We as a government are involved in the day-to-day lives of the residents of the Northwest Territories. We should not take that view that just because that is my mandate, I am not going to work in conjunction with my other colleagues to formulate a system so that we can streamline these programs and services so it is more cost-effective. We have a fuel subsidy. We have a property tax subsidy. We have income support programs. We have all these different programs out there, but there is no real means of formulating it because the administration costs of running each of these programs separately is pretty high. Is there some way of streamlining or some kind of application process where if you get the fuel subsidy, automatically you are guaranteed the property assessment relief fund? It's automatic. It just kicks in. As soon as you apply on one of the two programs, it will automatically kick in to some sort of computer system and give you that rebate. You do not have to run over here and get an application and run over there to get another application. There would be an application that you fill out through the rebate form and submit it with your application. Elders do not like to be put in debt. They do not like to have a bill that is outstanding. I would like to get some answers on my questions from the Minister. Thank you.