Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I believe that MACA still has a very important role to play, especially helping

communities. As he noted in his opening comments, there are communities struggling out there with regard to taking on their own rules and responsibilities as community governments. He identified the area of capacity and that’s one of the biggest challenges we face in some of our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I think it’s crucial that this government has to not only identify those areas, but demonstrate how they are working with communities to improve that situation, especially in light of the Building Canada funds and the area that he noted and also having the capacity to take advantage of these programs. One of the reasons that a lot of communities weren’t able to take advantage of the Building Canada funds or infrastructure funding is it was identified that most communities could not or did not have the matching funds to carry out those programs and also identified those communities were running deficits and weren’t able to basically come forward with their own funds to take advantage of these programs. I, for one, feel that MACA, regardless if they gave the money to the communities or not, has an obligation to ensure that communities not only have capacity but have the information that they need to make good decisions. For years, MACA has been compiling information, regardless if it’s shoreline erosion, main street chipseal and programs that MACA has solely been responsible for who has a lot of that information in our communities.

I would just like to illustrate, the last government put out some $30 million into communities to basically allow communities to identify their own priorities and have a decision-making process on identifying their priorities. A lot of these communities had public meetings. A lot of communities went through their capital planning process to identify the priorities of the communities, regardless if it’s with youth groups, elders groups or basically having public meetings in their communities in which a lot of communities identified their needs at that process. But I find it kind of odd that a lot of these communities, those priorities are still out there. But in regard to the Building Canada Fund, those weren’t even dusted off or brought forward for communities to consider since they’ve already taken the time to consolidate their priorities with their communities and, more importantly, identify those areas of contention.

Mr. Chair, I believe another area that this government has to be responsible for is the area of dealing with core infrastructure challenges we face in our communities. I’m talking water treatment services, regardless under the Canadian Health Act, and also in light of the area of liabilities from the Government of the Northwest Territories when it comes to safe drinking water. Again, with the situation that happened in Walkerton, I think that

with the new water treatment plants that are coming on is that there is a threat that basically someone has to be not only seen as overseeing the guidelines that we have in regard to safe drinking water but, more importantly, ensuring that we are following national standards. I think that because of the challenges that we face, especially in a lot our smaller communities, and I know that there has been a decision to expand the role of Public Works in some of those communities where we don’t have that capacity, but I think that those types of things have to be carried out.

The other area that I have to talk about is the area that I’ve talked about until I’m blue in the face, is dust control. Dust control is a real problem we have in our communities. Yet I hear the Minister comment, well, sorry, we gave the money to the communities; it’s up to the communities to basically decide how they want to take on that issue.

Mr. Speaker, you’re talking about dust control in excess of somewhere between $700,000 and a million dollars. A lot of these smaller communities, regardless if they have gas tax and whatnot, are only getting $80,000, $90,000 in gas tax. They cannot take on these initiatives and programs. How many communities were really able to have the capacity, have the ability to come up with their plans, come up with the strategy to do what was required of them to basically access those program dollars?

Again, I think it’s crucial that we, as government, have to ensure that whenever federal dollars are out there, regardless if it’s $45 million, where was that $45 million spent and who took advantage of the program and who didn’t.

I think we can’t just look at the pro side of this. We have to look at the negative side in regard to who was not able to because of the challenges they faced because they don’t have capacity or they’re running deficits or they weren’t incorporated as a community. Things like that, that we have to be able to find ways of facilitating and providing those communities with that opportunity just like any other community.

The way I see this capital project, it seems the communities that have taken advantage of it were the larger communities in the Northwest Territories. The majority of the smaller communities, like the communities I represent, looked at projects that they needed which they felt were essential for them to be able to carry out their responsibilities, regardless if it’s a solid waste site in Aklavik or Fort McPherson or basically drainage issues in regard to Aklavik because of the flooding that takes place every other year.

I know I’ve raised the issue before in this House in regard to shoreline erosion and whatnot in Aklavik and also realizing that the community of… I believe this question was raised to the Minister in the Inuvik

Beaufort leaders’ meeting, is looking at a youth centre for Tsiigehtchic. What does Tsiigehtchic have to do to get a youth centre in that community? I believe the Minister made a commitment at that time to look into that. But, again, there was a request from the community of Tsiigehtchic in regard to how we can provide that funding. I know the Minister mentioned quite a few communities that do receive the funding for youth centres, but, again, Tsiigehtchic is not one of them.

Mr. Chair, also in regard to the overall issue on capacity, I know you put a lot of money into the Arctic Energy Alliance, but yet some communities have taken it on themselves to hire their own consultants to do their own work, but yet we’re hiring an NGO in regard to providing a service on behalf of the government but other communities are having to do that research or basically identifying those reviews. So I’d just like to ask the Minister a question in regard to the area of the whole responsibility that communities have in regard to ensuring that they are able to sustain their gas tax but completing their community energy plans. In regard to that aspect, I’d like to ask the Minister in regard to community sustainability plans. How many communities have completed those plans and, more importantly, are they going to make the time frame of March 31, 2010? With that, Mr. Chair, I’ll leave it at that and I look forward to the Minister’s comments.