In March 2002, during the review of the 2002-2003 Main Estimates for MACA, the Committee of the Whole adopted a motion that called upon the Ministers of MACA and Transportation to develop a program to pave the main streets within non-tax based municipalities having a population greater than 500 residents and located on the Northwest Territories highway system.

Based on the above criteria, the government advised the Members in separate correspondence that the following communities would be eligible for the paving of their main streets: Fort Resolution, Fort Liard, Fort Providence, Fort McPherson and Rae-Edzo.

During the review of the department's draft 2003-2004 Main Estimates, the department provided the Members with a preliminary implementation schedule for the main street paving program for non-taxed based communities.

However, committee members noted with concern that Tuktoyaktuk, an ineligible community in the Minister's own riding, is proposed to receive $1.25 million for the chipsealing of its main street over the next five fiscal years. The Governance and Economic Development committee noted that for the total amount of $800,000 being spent in 2003-2004, Tuktoyaktuk will be receiving $600,000 or 75 percent of the funding. Although Tuktoyaktuk has a population of 979, it is not on the NWT highway system.

The GED committee brought this item to all Regular Members for consideration. The AOC committee included this issue in their letter of concern about capital projects. Once again, the committee felt that the Minister had failed to provide adequate information to justify this significant shift in policy.

In the response to AOC of February 7, 2003, the government indicated that the Financial Management Board Secretariat had decided to extend the program to communities not on the highway system. The government further stated that since the Department of Transportation's gravel crusher is going to be in the area over the summer of 2003 anyway, that it was merely good financial sense to go ahead with paving for Tuktoyaktuk.

Several Members questioned this logic. One Member pointed out that there would also be gravel crushed in the community of Lutselk'e over the summer of 2003. When he asked if this community could be brought in under the program, he was told by the Minister that the hamlet did not meet the criteria. Another Member mentioned that gravel is rather permanent and could easily be stockpiled until the road is paved some time in the future.

The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight continues to maintain that the paving of main streets in the NWT should not be ranked on the basis of convenience. Since the government claims to follow the corporate capital planning process, one would expect its criteria to impact the ranking decisions in this program as well. As the first criteria for the CCP is the protection of people, the decision regarding a community's timeline for paving should be based on concerns about people's health in the community due to large concentrations of dust. Until the Minister can clearly show that the community of Tuktoyaktuk is significantly more at risk than any other NWT community, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight would suggest that the department revise their current schedule for main street paving.