Thank you, Madam Chair. My opening comments for the Department of MACA deal mainly with what the community of Hay River has been dealing with the department for some time. We’ve had the opportunity to meet with them over the last couple of months. The community’s obviously concerned about the formula funding and the way that some of the formula funding has been affecting the community of Hay River.
The way the formula is calculated out for the last couple of years, Hay River has seen a major decrease in some of their funding. We continue to work with the department on finding ways to see if there is a potential for Hay River to regain some of that funding. There is an area of concern. I know the department has indicated that they re-evaluate the formula funding on a regular basis and try to assess it, but if the department can look to assess or re-assess the community of Hay River would be an issue, and continue to work with the community of Hay River and see if there’s something they can do for that formula funding deficiency that Hay River has been suffering with.
The other area that we’ve also been discussing with the Department of MACA is the emergency services. Obviously, we have a fantastic fire department in Hay River and they serve the community well. Not only the community but the surrounding area. We’re looking for the department to give some direction and assistance in some of the calls that we respond to outside of the community. We have a large highway system both to the east and west and south of Hay River that basically demands emergency response. Hay River, having more of the equipment than the surrounding communities, often responds to these calls with limited resources given to the community of Hay River for that service. We’ve been working with the department on that.
My third point is, obviously Hay River being an area that every year has a breakup and could have flood issues, the emergency services and that type of responses, we would like to work with the department to continue to make sure that’s available for the people of Hay River, the residents of Hay River if we do experience any flooding in the community. Those are my major concerns in the Department of MACA for right now.