Thank you, Mr. Chair. In virtually every community organization that came forward, including the first responders who worked in emergency services in the communities which the committee consulted, the number one concern was ensuring that -- sorry, I'm getting confused with other consultations, because we've been doing so many of them. Sorry, Mr. Chair.

In all the community governments we spoke to, including representatives from the Northwest Territories Association of Communities, the concern has been that a new access regime that applies to municipalities will bring with it additional technology requirements, personnel requirements, operational requirements, et cetera, and that funding is already stretched thin to support municipal operations so that additional cost pressures created by this legislation can be appropriately assessed by the Government of the Northwest Territories before municipalities are properly brought into the act.

I should note that the act creates the possibility that municipalities will be brought under ATIPP, but it is to be determined on the schedule set by regulations, so not all municipalities will be subject to the act after the act comes into force. They'll be dealt with on a schedule moving forward, and this motion calls for a very precise transparent and reliable process for rolling communities into the access regime, and to ensure that a costed plan is brought forward for any additional operational requirements those municipalities need. I think it's important that we do so to ensure that the access regime is properly functioning across all governments that it touches.

The Government of Alberta brought in municipalities to their ATIPP regime only recently, and we know there are hiccups with that system. There will be growing pain. This motion intends to address that in a way that seeks to meet the concerns raised by municipalities and the stakeholders we heard from, and that the common complaint that higher levels of government continue to download responsibilities onto lower levels of government is addressed with real action that puts people at ease.

Although the committee can't speak to any direct funding requests or compel the government to appropriate funds for this regime, we think it's appropriate that they at least assess the costs and have a realistic timeline for implementation that respects the integrity of community government operations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.