Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been over a week now since I last spoke about the unfair treatment of Fort Simpson as a tax-based community. The village has been losing out on formula financing and now stands to lose out on the new deal for community governments because it has been wrongly lumped in with larger municipalities who have the ability to raise substantial property taxes. This is not a governance issue, Mr. Speaker; it's a funding issue. When it comes to funding, it makes more sense for Fort Simpson to be treated like a hamlet.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister spoke about this being a problem that only goes back a few years, but I can assure him that Fort Simpson has struggled with its financial viability off and on for decades, ever since it became a

tax-based community. The GNWT's corporate memory may have failed, but long-time residents of Fort Simpson remember the history well. This is an old issue and it's time it was resolved. There is just no way that 130 ratepayers can be expected to keep a village running. A $40 million tax base is never going to be adequate and the 10-year projections are that it is not going to grow all that much. Everyone knows this. Otherwise, why aren't Tuktoyaktuk and Rae-Edzo municipal taxing authorities? Those are the communities Fort Simpson should be compared to, not Hay River, Inuvik, Norman Wells, Fort Smith and Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Minister is now reviewing the report his department commissioned to look into the village's funding. I hope his review will soon be over and would urge him to keep this at the top of his priority list so that we can see some movement on this in the near future.

There has been a lot of talk on this for a long time and the time for talking is over. I look forward to his actions. Mahsi cho.

---Applause