Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In one of the supplementary bills that will be shortly before this House there will be some money from the previous commitments made by the former government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, or, from Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe we have seven bylaw officers in the various communities across the Northwest Territories. We just did an evaluation on the situation, whether they have been making a difference or are they being effective in terms of community protection, and most of the communities have responded very favourably. We are at the same time, through our New Deal initiative, doing an evaluation of our O and M money, the operations and maintenance money that's provided to the communities for community governance. We're also reviewing the water and sewer subsidy, along with the new formula that will be incorporated into the community allocation for community capital and also the gas tax. There are a number of initiatives that are currently being evaluated and we are looking at all the different responsibilities that are factored into the formula for community governance. That includes security and safety that bylaw officers would fall under. So that review will be taking place. We should have some firm answers by the fall. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The bylaw officers in the communities are 19 bylaw officers. Mr. Speaker, when the Minister was a Regular Member sitting on our side in 2001, he was concerned about the same issue that I'm raising here today, Mr. Speaker. He encouraged the Department of MACA and Justice to work together to help communities with community enforcement. So I would like to ask the Minister if such initiatives exist today and what is the department doing with community governments to identify the community bylaw enforcement that's needed in the communities? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking a question that I raised a number of years ago. Mr. Speaker, we are reviewing how the communities are funded. The operations and maintenance for community governance is something that we are reviewing right now that allows communities to hire bylaw officers. I will have to confirm the number of bylaw officers we have out there. However, we are checking to see if this money is currently adequate for the communities and that's something we won't have answers on until sometime this fall, as I've indicated. I'm not able to confirm that any new monies will be coming to the communities at this point that will allow them to set their own priorities and if bylaw officers happen to be something that communities want to hire, that would be up to them. We do not have a program for bylaw officers right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad to hear that MACA, Municipal and Community Affairs, is reviewing the issue of safety and security in the communities and possibly securing some additional funds for the communities that's adequately needed in the communities. Mr. Speaker, when you look at the whole issue, Behchoko does not have a bylaw officer in the community or even in the three outlying communities of the Tlicho region. In fact, there are bylaw officers in Tsiigehtchic and Tulita, just as an example. So the question to the Minister is, has the Minister looked into sitting down with the department of community government of Behchoko to deal with this important issue that we're faced with on a daily basis? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's important to be very clear that MACA does not hire any bylaw officers. Bylaw officers are hired by the community governments, and that's the case in the communities of Tsiigehtchic and Aklavik. The community of Behchoko decided that they no longer needed the service or could not afford the service. I'm not sure what the situation is. We are reviewing, again, the budgets for the communities and several communities have indicated that maybe the community government budgets are not sufficient anymore. We are looking at that. It would allow them to set their own priorities. If bylaw officers are something the communities want to hire, then that would be their decision. It's not a decision of MACA. We are moving towards allowing all the decisions to be made by the community, including capital, and this is something that the communities...It would be up to them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Minister for that answer, because the department is reviewing the budget and he stated that there's some insufficient funds going to the communities. Actually that's true for Behchoko. Behchoko is also in need of bylaw officers. It has been an issue this past year with the break and entering. So I'd like to ask the Minister if during the business planning process if that can be identified for Behchoko and the three outlying communities, that it's necessary to have bylaw officers in the community. Although it's block funded, but if they could work with the communities to identify that area. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did not state that the communities were...the funding was insufficient. I stated that several communities have raised that issue. We are looking at reviewing the operation and maintenance funding for the communities, governance funding, and we can't commit that we will identify bylaw officers as a specific initiative that needs to be funded outside of the block funding. We are moving towards more of a block funding, more giving the community more autonomy and letting them make their own decisions. If it does result in additional funding, that may allow more flexibility for communities to hire bylaw officers. That's as far as I can commit to, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. At this time I'd like to recognize in the gallery Suzanne Pellerin from Hay River. Suzanne is doing lots of travelling these days back and forth. She's doing French translation for the Department of Justice, actually.

---Applause

Anyone else in the gallery that wasn't here when we did recognition of visitors in the gallery, welcome. It's always nice to have an audience and I hope you're enjoying the proceedings.

Oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this afternoon is for Mr. Handley, the Premier, and they're in connection with the motion that this Assembly passed last February, Mr. Speaker, on the northern residence income tax deduction. Mr. Speaker, in that motion we asked the Premier and the Finance Minister to get in touch with their counterparts in our sister territories, as well as in northern provinces and Ottawa, to gage their interest and their commitment in approaching Ottawa to increase the northern residence income tax deduction, Mr. Speaker; something that has not been addressed since 1991 and something that could, in a very significant way, make a big difference for everyone living in the North to address the high cost of living. Mr. Speaker, has the Premier been able to follow through on this request to make contact with their counterparts and what has the reaction been? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is yes, I have discussed this with my northern counterparts and with some of the provincial Premiers, and the Member is correct that this is a national program. It would mean having to make changes not just in the northern zone, but in what we call the intermediate zone, as well. Mr. Speaker, in looking at this with the Premiers from the Yukon and Nunavut, it was our decision to put this one on the back burner until we had made more progress through the expert panel on our territorial financing formula and also on resource revenue sharing. Mr. Speaker, the reason we did that is any increase or decrease, sorry, increase in the northern allowance residence deduction would also cost our government money. That was an issue not just to our territory, but the other territories. For example, if we raised it from the current $5,475 to $8,500 per year, that would mean over a $3 million loss for us. Collectively we determined that it was best to keep our eye on the ball on the resource revenue sharing and financing formula. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a very useful answer. It gives me some indication that, you know, perhaps we should not be quite so literal, if you will, in saying, look, simply increase this deduction. There may be other ways that we can actually get Canada to recognize there's a higher cost of living here, but also that there may be other ways of achieving that end objective. I'm wondering, you know, where the Premier said this has been put on the back burner, is it still on the radar screen though? Is this still something that there is a collective will to do something with, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.