Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few years ago we strengthened the Dog Act so the communities have the legislative authority to deal with the dog situation in their community, and we also fund them through the O and M allocation to deal with that if they choose to.

Currently, the Minister has indicated the Dog Act was recently updated. What enforcement options exist within the Dog Act? For example, I think some communities, whether they’re settlements or maybe hamlets, they have perhaps at their leisure with the O and M dollars that MACA commits to hire a bylaw officer. What if some of those communities don’t have bylaw officers? What enforcement options exist within the Dog Act for those communities?

We’ve given them legislative authority to deal with this. If they have

bylaw officers, they can empower them to deal with the dog situation. If they don’t have bylaw officers, they have the authority to appoint someone as dog officers and deal with the situation, and they are funded through the O and M funding to do so.

It seems, once again, we put great effort in updating legislation and regulations, but then we really leave it to the communities. The Dog Act is basically left for communities to enforce the dog control measures, so my question again to the Minister is: Does MACA offer any training or guidance to communities on dog control matters?

Through our School of Community Government we do offer some training; however, we offer some bylaw training, I believe. I am not sure if dogs specifically are on there. If not, I will find out and relay that information on to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think there could be a workable solution in terms of trying to bring MACA and communities together and try to take a constructive approach in terms of dealing with this matter that’s pretty common throughout the NWT.

Would MACA consider partnerships with veterinary schools to bring clinics to small communities in the NWT?

Part of MACA’s mandate now is to deal with the communities. We work with the communities. We leave all the decision-making up to the communities, which I believe is the way it should be, and it’s something that the communities have wanted for a long time and have grasped. They’ve taken that on and done an admirable job doing so.

If there’s a need in the community to bring some veterinarian in to work in the community, that again would be a decision. We’ll work with the community and help try and facilitate this.

At the end of the day, as I’ve said for the last five or six years, the ultimate decision is the community’s, as it should be.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, the cost of living in the Northwest Territories has escalated to a point of crisis. My questions today – and I understand the government is working on an Energy Strategy – will be to the Department of Finance Minister.

My first question is: Has the government talked to the federal government about northern residency deductions and increasing that allowable tax deduction for Northerners so that more money can go into their pockets to assist with cost of living?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not recently.

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, I didn’t hear that response.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Could you redo your response to Mr. Bouchard, Mr. Miltenberger?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize to the Member opposite. Not recently.

In the cost of living issue currently before us, why would the Minister of Finance not be talking to the federal government about this situation to allow a bigger tax break for Northerners, especially when we have a declining population?

I would be happy to share with the Member the analysis that was done last time this issue was discussed among the three territories. There’s a benefit to higher wage earners, but overall, the general consensus from the three territories was it’s not something that would directly benefit Northerners overall or the territories as a whole. I would be happy to share that information with the Member and we could always revisit it once again as well.

If that analysis has been done before, what is the Department of Finance doing currently in taxation to help the Northerners with the cost of living to put more money into their… Are there ways that we can reduce taxes to help people in the Northwest Territories currently?

We have a very stable tax regime. We have committed not to raise taxes in the life of this government or the previous government for that matter. Income tax, corporate tax, we haven’t affected the taxes on motive or non-motive fuels, and we have as a government, if you look at our list of subsidies, at least $200 million worth of subsidies that we put on the table across government to support and assist Northerners.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Finance is looking at things they’ve studied before. They say we’re stable, we haven’t changed anything. That’s right. We haven’t changed anything. We’re looking to promote 2,000 people to come to the Northwest Territories.

What’s the indicator to bring them here? What is the government going to do to promote the Northwest Territories as a place to live and reduce the cost of living? Maybe we don’t have to stay the same. Maybe we reduce the cost of gas taxes so that people can come.

What is the government going to do in the future to encourage people to come to the Northwest Territories?