Thank you, Mr. Chair. Do community government managers have anything to do with the new deal that the government is rolling out? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, no, the position for manager is not for the new deal. However, the analyst position is geared towards assisting the communities to leverage new funding as part of the new deal role, but it's also there to help communities leverage funding from other sources including private enterprise and green fund from the federal government. So that position is tied to the new deal.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess I don't want to say that maybe the new deal is putting the cart in front of the horse, but I think the communities, when they do start implementing and incorporating the new deal, there are going to be issues with respect to tax collection, period. Not so much on spending the dollars. I guess I'm just wondering if the government or department has considered maybe getting personnel in the department that would assist communities in implementation of the new deal, as opposed to already having somebody available that's going to be able to help them on how they should spend their money or leverage cash and everything like that when a lot of the communities are going to be in a position where they're not going to be able to raise any revenue or collect any tax dollars. I'm just wondering how the department is planning on addressing this concern that's probably going to be one of the first issues that comes up when the communities start taking on the new deal and all the initiatives attached. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member is right; there is going to be a requirement for some people to work with the communities. However, at this point and in this budget, we have not included any positions to increase staff positions to collect the taxes or anything. Those positions are already in place. We're not going to be requiring the communities to collect the tax on their own for some time yet. We will be talking to the communities to see what is going to be needed in terms of resources over this next year. We still have a lot of consultation to do with the communities in terms of what's required and what's needed. I'm sure at some point we may see something, but it's not in this budget for any additional positions for tax collection, because those positions are already in place. We do it now and we do the assessments now, so there's no requirement for it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Villeneuve, anything further?

Does the department have a plan over the next year in which communities are going to be consulted with, what process they're going to follow and when communities are going to start seeing this plan? When are they going to be in the communities so they can prepare for the meetings and get their points together and stuff like that? Is there something that can go out before the new deal does? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Speaking to concerns brought forward to me by the City of Yellowknife, as well as other Yellowknife Members. The City of

Yellowknife was put in a very aggressive position whereas they are essentially obligated to respond to emergency calls such as fire and ambulance just outside of city limits. They're obliged to do that. Essentially their hands are tied and they're almost forced to do that. Now in the city of Yellowknife it costs them X amount of dollars but, unfortunately, when they put in for those types of dollars for recovery, they're not getting their full cost of the recovery. Simply put, if it costs the City of Yellowknife X dollars, MACA's decided it's X minus one. So then the city is at a net loss at the end of the day to provide these services. What is this Minister willing to do to address that problem in this regard? Is he simply in a position where he can say we'll proceed with full cost to the city? How does the Minister see us solving this problem? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we don't fund the city for ambulances. It's all part of the block funding that they receive. I'm not sure what the Member is expecting us to do to resolve this issue. The city hasn't brought it to our attention, so I'm not sure what the request is here for us to do.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Hawkins.

Well, I'll try one more time and maybe if we're not finding even ground, maybe I'm not describing it properly or maybe I'm not on the right department and then that would be fine. Well, at this time, maybe I'll withdraw the question and I'll get some further clarification. If it applies to this Minister, then I'll bring it back to him in another venue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Chairman, there is some discussion going on with different departments over rescue vehicles, highway vehicles and the need for ambulance services, so it really is across a number of departments and we can certainly commit to providing the Member some information as this develops further. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On that same note, I thought it was the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs that provided funding for emergency responses outside of municipal boundaries and, because there are lots of residents living outside of Yellowknife city boundaries, but they are customers of our municipal services, it was my understanding that there is funding or some kind of agreement between the GNWT and the city to provide this, given the fact that it's this government that collects fees from the residents that live outside the NWT. The city government doesn't get that, but the city government has to provide that service. So it was my understanding that there is some kind of agreement there. It's just that the agreement in place is not adequate. I could be wrong on this. Maybe the Minister could make a commitment to look into it and see what MACA's position is on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. I think the Minister did mention that he was going to supply that information to Mr. Hawkins. Perhaps he could supply that information to all the Members. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Chairman, we don't provide ambulance services. However, we have, in the past, worked with different communities, Hay River and Fort McPherson and I think Yellowknife also, to access some funding under the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program that's funded through the federal government. We are responsible for emergency measures, which is a little different from highway traffic accidents and ambulance services. There are some responsibilities from other departments that I'm not in a position to comment on at this point as to how they pay for ambulance service.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ms. Lee.