I had great support from the people at Tim Hortons. Everyone is excited about this idea, but also someone said that the devil is in the detail, so we have to work out the details. I think it is an idea that is long overdue, and we should work together to see this a reality.
One of the things that I really like about this idea of the bridge over the Mackenzie River is this is being spearheaded by the Fort Providence Betterment Society. I think any time there is a community group in a smaller community outside Yellowknife that has an idea and that has an interest in seeing resource development take place outside their community and Yellowknife where we can mutually benefit, that is a good idea and we should support that. I will encourage the Minister and the government to pursue that option and make it happen in any way possible.
Mr. Speaker, for the remainder of my time, I want to talk about the area of education and infrastructure funding for the city of Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the record of this government in the efforts it has made to reduce the PTR and for having given extra funding to school systems. However, what I still do not understand is how we have apparently met the target of the PTR as legislated in a much earlier time frame than we had thought, yet in classes, we see crowding in schools. There are a lot of theories about that. It is because Yellowknife is being funded at the NWT average, or the PTR is not the same thing as class size. We heard that over and over again when the Youth Parliament was here, and there is all these semantics and war over semantics going on, but I do not really care what the theory is.
When I am sitting with the parents' advisory group at Range Lake school, they tell me that their classes are just too big. If we have legislation that is funding the schools at 16.5:1, but in reality classes have 28 to 30 students, there is a problem there. I have gone to grade 2 and 3 classrooms at Range Lake school, and the kids have to be told how to exit the classroom. The way the class desks are laid out, it is so crowded. I do not know if it is the way the school is built. I have been told that it is up to the local boards to decide how they are going to spend the money and so on, but for the parents in my constituency I do not think they have to care about rhymes and reasons why it is that their classrooms are heading towards the number of 30.
They do not have enough assistance with the special needs students in class. It only takes one or two students who need extra help and are not getting it to really put demands on the class. We really have to look at that. I know we have local school boards and other groups that have a say in the management of our schools, but as a legislator, I think the Minister, the government and all of the Members here are accountable for that. We have classes that are integrated in three or four grades in communities. Even in Range Lake, we have a lot of classes where one, two, three, four, five or six are all combined, and it is really taxing the resources to the maximum.
I guess we could pat ourselves on the back and say, "Wow, look at what we have done." We have reduced the PTR rate on paper, but I think what is important is what is out there in reality. We have to continue to work on that to make sure that our kids get the kind of education they deserve.
Another thing is that recently, I saw the stats in the paper where the Yellowknife Catholic school system and YK No. 1, all the schools are on the verge of 100 percent capacity. Almost all the schools are getting totally crowded. As far as I know, there is no plan or no reserved land for schools that we could count on. We are only looking at the next three to five years before we see that we are going to have to build more schools in Yellowknife. I need to bring that to the attention of the Minister and the government so they are paying attention to this.
The last thing I want to say, Mr. Speaker, has to do with the infrastructure funding for the city of Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, we all know that Yellowknife is in the middle of an economic boom, as are some other cities, like Inuvik. Our resources in Yellowknife are really being taxed to the max.
Mr. Speaker, I had a chance to observe the traffic on Old Airport Road the other day because I had to go and fix my skidoo. It was like the middle of the afternoon with no special circumstances, and there was so much traffic on that road. That road cannot handle the traffic that we have. We need to divert the traffic somewhere, whether to Kam Lake Road or somewhere. I know that the City of Yellowknife is experiencing a reduced budget on their new formula. Our water and sewer pipes are totally worn out. They have holes in them and they are not able to save a reserve to fix those.
I know Yellowknife on the surface looks like it has a lot, but in Yellowknife, every household pays a lot of tax to have the services we have and they are entitled to get the money they need to have the basic services like the roads and water and sewer system in proper working order.
Mr. Speaker, Highway No. 4 is not a road to barbequing wieners. Highway No. 4, the Ingraham Trail, is one of the busiest areas in the Northwest Territories. I was approached by one of the Aurora Tourism operators reminding me again of how dangerous that road is.
We have thousands and thousands of Japanese tourists coming to visit us and spending dollars in our midst, helping our local shops and restaurants. I would hate to see a disastrous accident on that road.
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Mr. Speaker, I think we should really recognize the fact that all of that traffic and activity that is happening on Ingraham Trail is giving this government a lot of money so that it can do the things it needs to do for the communities and our social agenda. I think we have to recognize that for what it is and pay proper attention to that.
Mr. Speaker, another thing is there is such a shortage of lots in Yellowknife. In the Niven Lake area, because the development cost is so expensive, most lots there are going for $80,000 a lot. By the time they build an average house on them, the house will cost as much as $300,000. As soon as the house price goes up above $300,000, CMHC will not insure them unless you put down 25 percent as a down payment. For most people, Mr. Speaker, a $75,000 down payment is not an option.
I think that it is ridiculous in this day and age, in a city of 20,000 people, that the city has to contemplate providing water and sewer with a bucket and pump service because we do not have the money to put the lift station in there. The government has a responsibility to build the infrastructure so that people can move into and afford the houses with the money they make.
I guess at first take, Mr. Speaker, it may not be so reasonable to think that the City of Yellowknife, as rich as it looks, needs help to get the lots developed. What we need to remember is that every lot that gets built, every house that gets built there, a family of four could bring in as much as $70,000 or more from the federal government. Given the per capita in Yellowknife, we get about $7,000 of government money per person, that means $63,000 of that will go to the communities to help the communities.
I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, maybe we should look into the $82 million budget for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and by way of promoting economic development, we should use maybe half of that money to just build lots in Yellowknife, because that would then bring us millions of dollars so that we can fund all the services that we need.
Mr. Speaker, I would say as a Yellowknife MLA, if it happens that all the people who need houses to work at our mines or in our secondary industries, if they could move to Hay River or Fort Smith, that is great. I do not think that Yellowknifers are saying they want to be a city of 200,000 people, but we are losing these people to St. Albert and all of Alberta. We are losing our money, and I think the best economic development idea may be to use all of the Northwest Territories Development Corporation small business money, build the lots in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and communities, whatever, so we keep our people in the North and we can bring people to the North.
As the realtors in Yellowknife will tell you, we need at least 500 to 600 houses in Yellowknife for the next five years. I do not think we are going to attract these people by saying their sewage will be treated with buckets and their water will be pumped by trucks. I know that a lot of people like that. I mean, it is part of our feature in Old Town, but I do not think it should be done because that is what is necessary to do.
Mr. Speaker, I think that it is about time that Yellowknife gets some attention. I think that having only two Yellowknife Ministers in Cabinet is really showing some suffering, and obviously the Housing Minister has not won his battle in fighting for Yellowknife, which is in such dire need of extra money for the roads, for lots, for water and sewer pipes, for schools.
I wanted to make sure that I put it on the record that this budget really was for the communities. There is not enough there for Yellowknife. I think that the 20,000 people of Yellowknife deserve parity, equality, a fair chance and the recognition that everyone else gets. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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