Thank you,

Mr. Krutko. To the motion, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I feel I have to make a couple of comments for the record.

First of all, the whole principle behind the New Deal was to put more autonomy into the communities, allowing the communities to make decisions that affected their communities. We rolled out a new capital program that included the money for the chipseal. This is factored into their capital dollars. We negotiated for new gas tax funding to be flexible enough to be utilized on chipseal. There is a lot of chipseal, and there is a lot of ability for communities to apply chipseal and to plan for it.

We still have kept all our support mechanisms to help the communities move forward. We’re seeing that a number of communities are planning to do chipseal in the whole community now, not just one stretch of Main Street. I think we’re going to start to see more of that as communities really get more focused and more organized.

It will be a challenge to pull the money back. We’re already putting in a hand to the communities. How do we tell the communities: The government has decided that you shouldn’t make your own decisions anymore.; we’ll do that for you and reduce the capital. I don’t think it would be well

received within the communities, and I encourage Members to really consider what the outcome of this motion would mean.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. To the motion, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. In light of that information that the responsibility was devolved, I know that some of my communities do have the ability to look at different options, up to and including asking about the EK-35 that’s put on runways and that kind of stuff. I’m not too sure how this motion will affect the devolved money, because then we’ll just take it back from them and say that we’ll do the Main Street Chipsealing.

In terms of this motion it doesn’t really make sense, in that light, to be taking the responsibilities back from the communities. It’s something that’s theirs that they can decide on, and that’s fair. I really can’t support this motion. If anything, I would abstain.

Thank you,

Mr. Menicoche. To the motion, Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Chair, I’m not sure about the process here. I would like to propose an amendment.

Thank you,

Mr.

Bromley. Can you please outline your

amendment to us?

Yes. I propose that we remove the words “reinstate the” and replace it with “work with communities to establish a.” So the entire amended motion would read: “I move that the committee strongly recommend that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs take immediate action to work with communities to establish a Main Street Chipsealing Program.”

Thank you,

Mr.

Bromley. Any Member can propose an

amendment to a motion, but we will need it in writing. We’ll take a short break while you and the Clerk work on this amendment.

The Committee of the Whole took a short

recess.

Thank you,

committee. We’ll call the committee back to order. Mr. Bromley, I understand you have a motion. Could you read your motion into the record.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to withdraw my move to amend the motion.

Just to confirm: you wish to withdraw your amendment to the motion. Is that correct?

That’s correct.

All right. There is no motion to amend. To the motion. Mr. Krutko.

I’d like to amend the motion.

Please proceed, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Chair, I move that Motion 50-16(2) be amended to delete the word “reinstate” and insert the words “work with communities to establish a.”

Thank you,

Mr. Krutko. Any Member can make a…. We have a motion to amend from Mr. Krutko. Mr. Krutko, can we please get you to read the amendment into the record.

Mr. Chair, I move that Committee Motion 15-16(2) be amended by deleting the words “reinstate the” and insert the words “work with communities to establish a.”

Thank you,

Mr. Krutko. The motion to amend is in order. To the amendment? To the motion as amended? To the amendment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ve talked to a number of communities over the past number of years and other Members of this House. I think part of the main issue is that it’s already rolled into the capital funding that communities get. With the mover’s indulgence here, I’d like to make an amendment to his amendment, if I could. I know that may complicate things, but it would read, “I move that this committee strongly recommend that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs take immediate action to work with communities to find a way to fund the Main Street Chipsealing Program outside of existing funding.”

Thank you,

Mr. Ramsay. Before we can go with that, we’ll have to actually deal with the amendment that’s on the books right now. Just for the record, we need to deal with this amendment first, and then we can come back to yours later. To the amendment, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr.

Chairman, I’m concerned

because when I see this come forward I see it as…. The New Deal money was indeed a process as to how communities were supposed to take care of this problem of chipsealing their streets and whatnot. I see this as complicating the waters without having it negotiated through MACA to get a sense of its real impact. The challenge I see is that this amendment now has them working to establish this. What’s going to happen is that MACA’s going to turn around and say: Well, if you want us to work with communities now, we’re going to have to start taking money back to manage it. I see the

amendment muddying a very difficult situation to begin with. I don’t think the amendment actually helps the situation. I think it makes it worse. This should be negotiated out of the New Deal money if that’s really the intent of the bigger motion as a whole.

Thank you,

Mr.

Hawkins. To the amendment? To close,

Mr. Krutko.