Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted this opportunity to comment on a few of the initiatives and a few of the issues in my communities that were raised with me during the course of my community tours. I think the biggest one is that as I tour all the smaller communities,

they continue to raise the issues with the New Deal and capacity. They still really do not find that there’s enough money there to run their communities. One of the communities, the cost of street lighting alone far exceeds what was budgeted by the New Deal formula system. I think it was, like, $10,000 or $12,000 a month for community street lighting and I think the formula said they’re only allocated, like, $6,000 or $7,000. So they are finding inconsistencies and shortages as they try to run their communities.

I think I’ve done Member’s statements in the past, Mr. Chair, where I asked. Yes, the New Deal has been around for about two or three years and I strongly feel that it should be evaluated sooner rather than later. I think raising the questions in the House with the Minister, the Minister advises, yes, it’s going to be reviewed, but I’m thinking in a couple of years and I think they need it sooner just to evaluate all the different areas. The communities are still struggling and there’s a reason they’re struggling and I really think that Municipal and Community Affairs should try to find out where their struggles are. I know that they’re sending in staff people to help assist the communities with capital planning, but the capital planning and long-term strategies are okay, but I think it’s the O and M issues that they really have been struggling with. We’ve had lots of capital money, but it’s just the O and M, how to best manage it because they really are experiencing some shortfalls, Mr. Chair. So I really feel that this program should be evaluated sooner than later.

Moving on to another issue is the issue of Fort Liard. I know that when there’s a tragedy in the community such as a death -- and Fort Liard experienced a drowning in the springtime -- we often provide communities with $10,000 worth of emergency funding to assist with the search and rescue. In this case, for whatever reason, MACA did not provide the necessary funds to help the community with $10,000 worth of search and rescue emergency funding. A couple issues there, which I certainly disagree with. One of them was that it wasn’t properly applied for and it wasn’t applied for by the right organization, meaning perhaps the hamlet should have applied. But in other cases in my riding about three or four years ago, the Fort Simpson Band had applied for the funding, they were the call centre, they managed a call centre when they did their search and rescue and they successfully applied and got the $10,000 in search and rescue funding. I still think that the community of Fort Liard, through the ADK Band, should still have access to this $10,000 in emergency funding. They expended all their resources, they took the care and time to set up a cost centre for all expenses because there was lots of expenses like food, fuel, shelter, et cetera, for the 10 days that they were out there searching for one

of their loved ones, then only to find that this emergency funding, because of technical reasons, wasn’t available. I really feel strongly that we made the wrong decision there and there’s still time to make it right, Mr. Chair. I really feel that the department should reconsider that. In fact, it is going to be one of my Member’s statements here before the House shuts down for this winter session.

Moving onto another one, I know that MACA is quite involved in emergency firefighting and I think one of the issues by the Village of Fort Simpson was a highway rescue vehicle. There was a huge opportunity, I don’t know if it still exists, that one of the more northern communities did have an actual highway rescue vehicle they had purchased, but it doesn’t really suit the needs for their community. There was an opportunity to transfer it to the Village of Fort Simpson and they did ask the Minister and wrote him a couple of internal memorandums asking him to review the situation. Is there a way to make this work? It was kind of like a win-win. The community relinquishes their highway rescue vehicle and another community actually gets it. I sure wish there was a way to do it. I don’t know if there’s still a way to do it, but we looked at some different options. I still believe that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs could and should make it happen. There are many tools at his discretion in his ministerial authority to actually make this work. I know that interdepartmental workings, guidelines, procedures are there, but at the same time we’ve got to do the right thing once in a while and make it a win-win situation. I feel strongly about that.

As well, with the community of Fort Simpson it was perceived that the O and M money for the community didn’t actually grow like other communities. I think it was like zero growth for this fiscal year and it was really hard to understand how that worked out.

So those are the key areas that are on my agenda right now, Mr. Chair, but I think as well that MACA should be commended for their expenditures in the youth recreation area. That’s something that really bolsters our community, it creates self-esteem. The Youth Ambassador Program, for example, goes a long ways to show how much support our government has for the youth. We often talk about youth and their supports and this is one way it’s real, its tangible, the youth are learning, they’re getting out there in the communities, they’re getting out to the Olympics, et cetera. Just being out there creates self-esteem and in creating that self-esteem, you can just see kids glowing. They learn better at school, their health and wellness is supported and I’m glad to see it’s going to be a continual line item, Mr. Chair, and I’ll continue to support that and any other expenditures that

Municipal and Community Affairs has with the youth.

Those are the notes I have right now, Mr. Chair, and as we deliberate the budget, I’ll certainly say more. Thank you very much. Mahsi cho.