Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. We’re on page 4-4, Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, regional operations, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $28.002 million. Agreed?
Debates of Oct. 29th, 2009
This is page numbers 3561 - 3596 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 4th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was communities.
Topics
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![The Chair](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-glen-abernethy/0e4aeb686e54647f25a09d804c771158.jpg)
The Chair Glen Abernethy
Committee, we’ll move on to page 4-8, Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, community operations, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $12.138 million. Mr. Krutko.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![David Krutko](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-david-krutko/3bf4c8c28546ef0fcfdd14f8c0ee96c6.jpg)
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
I just have a question with regard to the Building Canada Fund. Again, I mentioned earlier there is a pot of money that’s there for research and development and also for climate change. I’m wondering if the community is able to access that fund. The only department so far that has accessed that fund, I believe, is the Department of Transportation. So I’m wondering, is that also something that the communities are aware of, that there is research money dealing with
climate change, and is there a possibility that those dollars can also be allocated to the communities.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Aumond
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct; Transportation has been allocated a sum of money out of the Building Canada plan to undertake research for climate change and specifically dealing with permafrost issues. There is no provision to allow for communities to access that pot of money, but certainly any of the research that comes out of that and the findings that come out of that research would be made available to communities or anybody else in the Northwest Territories who wanted access to it. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![David Krutko](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-david-krutko/3bf4c8c28546ef0fcfdd14f8c0ee96c6.jpg)
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Again, just on that point from the deputy minister, I think the argument of permafrost and the effects we’re seeing in the community of Aklavik in regard to the shore erosion. Again, we have other communities such as Tuk, we’re seeing that in regard to having the possibility of moving public infrastructure, because of the effects we’re seeing in regard to shore erosion regardless if it’s in the ocean or on a river where a community is next to a river system. So I’d just like to ask if there is any way that this government could make a provision that a certain amount of those dollars will be designated to resolve some of these climate change challenges the communities are facing.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![Robert C. McLeod](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-robert-c-mcleod/714d3744f76b921118ae9edc064c271e.jpg)
Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Some of the communities have applied for Building Canada money for specific projects that they’ve identified in their communities. For example, I think Aklavik used their portion of it for the new sewage lagoon and they matched the dollars and some of the dollars came from BCP. They’ve also identified some money for road upgrades through the economic stimulus fund. So the communities will let us know what their priorities are and we continue to work with them on capital plans.
As far as Mr. Aumond said, we’ve shared findings of the report with the communities and we understand that there are some issues facing some of the communities as far as climate change goes, and the Building Canada Fund would have been a good pot of money that the communities could have accessed to deal with some of the issues that they’re facing as far as shoreline erosion goes. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![David Krutko](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-david-krutko/3bf4c8c28546ef0fcfdd14f8c0ee96c6.jpg)
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Thank you. We’re hearing one thing from the deputy and hearing something else from the Minister. The deputy just stated that the municipalities can’t access this fund, it’s only the Department of Transportation. So, again, how can the Department of Transportation ensure those
research dollars are spent on research in regard to shoreline erosion in communities?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![Michael Miltenberger](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-michael-miltenberger/7a4fe0ff4356da96ae60c1b266833912.jpg)
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Department of Transportation will be looking at issues related to roads. We also have a broader mandate with some marine, as well and making sure that there’s consultation. With the communities, we recognize very clearly that there are some key communities that are going to be targeted by shoreline erosion, and significant dollars have already, over the years, been spent there. As the polar ice cap melts and they say the water levels are going to rise and the severity of storms increases, it’s going to be an issue that’s going to require more and more attention.
I just get back to the commitment as we look at the long-term planning and we’ve met with myself and the Member, with the members of Aklavik, and the work they’re doing at laying out their plan for the future and some of the things they have to do. Those issues we’d have to work collectively to address along with the departments that have, in some cases, mandates that sometimes would seem to overlap or are definitely closely related with Transportation and MACA. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![David Krutko](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-david-krutko/3bf4c8c28546ef0fcfdd14f8c0ee96c6.jpg)
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
My final question is, can we get a commitment from the Minister of Finance that basically there will be some coordination with the Department of Transportation to look at the whole area of shoreline erosion and try to access some of those research dollars that they have so that you can try to find a way to resolve this issue by some method so we can avoid the melting permafrost and the effects we’re seeing on communities and public infrastructure?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![Michael Miltenberger](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-michael-miltenberger/7a4fe0ff4356da96ae60c1b266833912.jpg)
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Yes, there will be collaboration. I appreciate the good advice from the Member. There will be collaboration amongst the departments to make sure we have a coordinated approach as we deal with the needs of the communities as well as trying to factor in the effect on specific communities of climate change issues such as shoreline erosion. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![Bob Bromley](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-bob-bromley/bb4ee9b08828e006d6ae87b089ec45e1.jpg)
Bob Bromley Weledeh
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I see a proportion of the projects proposed here have been approved by Canada. I am wondering if more have been approved since I was last updated on that. Also, perhaps just for some perspective, have projects just generally been approved in the past? We’ve got a little bit of experience now on this. I am wondering if most of our projects or all of our projects in the past have eventually been approved by Canada. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Aumond
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With respect to the Building Canada plan, there have been several projects that have been approved to date, as the Member had mentioned. There are some communities that have undertaken BCP projects, Building Canada plan projects, but still have not used their total allocation that’s available to them, so they will be able to come back. For other projects, there are some communities that have not chosen, at this particular time, to uptake their allocation that’s available to them for the Building Canada plan, but can do so over the next four and a half/five years for the length of the program. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![Bob Bromley](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-bob-bromley/bb4ee9b08828e006d6ae87b089ec45e1.jpg)
Bob Bromley Weledeh
I appreciate those comments. So have we had any projects rejected by Canada or is it pretty much a matter of negotiating it through to the end, getting approval? Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Aumond
By and large, most of the projects that we have submitted to Canada or asked them to consider have been approved. The criteria is well known and we have had some good experience over the years, so our success rate has been quite high. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![The Chair](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-glen-abernethy/0e4aeb686e54647f25a09d804c771158.jpg)
The Chair Glen Abernethy
We are on page 4-8, Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, community operations, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $12.138 million.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![The Chair](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-glen-abernethy/0e4aeb686e54647f25a09d804c771158.jpg)
The Chair Glen Abernethy
Agreed. Okay, let’s turn back to page 4-2. This is Municipal and Community Affairs, department summary, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $40.140 million.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
![The Chair](/media/CACHE/images/polpics/16-glen-abernethy/0e4aeb686e54647f25a09d804c771158.jpg)
The Chair Glen Abernethy
Is committee agreed that we have concluded our review of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs?