Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, municipal governments across Canada are increasingly challenged to keep pace with their infrastructure needs. A pressure shared by many municipalities is the need to maintain and replace aging water and sewage systems.
Tax-based communities in the Northwest Territories are no exception to this rule. The cost of replacing aging water and sewer infrastructure in the North is considerable. We've heard concerns raised by Members of this House about the lack of infrastructure support for tax-based municipalities.
I am pleased that in spite of fiscal constraints, my department has been successful in maintaining a cost-shared water and sewer infrastructure program. Under this program, tax-based communities are eligible to receive up to 50 percent of the total cost for replacing water and sewer infrastructure, depending on the number of applications received and their fit with program priorities which are identified annually.
I am also pleased to advise this Assembly that the tax-based communities of Inuvik, Norman Wells, Yellowknife, Fort Simpson, Hay River and Fort Smith will all receive some funding support towards water and sewer infrastructure this year, for a total of $2.5 million in funding.
In the 2002-2003 fiscal year we were able to enhance the funding available to these communities by accessing the Canada/NWT infrastructure program. Additional funding of $1.86 million was provided towards water and sewer system replacement, for a total of $4.26 million in repairs and replacement last summer.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this year in his Budget Address, the federal Minister of Finance announced that new funding would be available through the Canada strategic infrastructure funding for municipal governments. We will strive to ensure that an appropriate portion of this funding is made available to provide further support for our tax-based municipalities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause