Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2016, at the start of the 18th Assembly, the GNWT continued to acknowledge that there exists a gap between the core funding and needs of community governments. The government has set a target of nine years to close this gap, and here we are, four years later. MACA's 2018-2019 Business Plan says we're still nine years away from balancing this deficit.
The NWT Association of Municipalities identified a $40-million deficit in funding. In the attached report prepared by the Conference Board of Canada, which was included with their submission, it stated that closing the funding gap would create more than 200 jobs a year and would have a net positive impact on the economy of the Northwest Territories as a whole.
Every budget that this shortfall in funding to community governments remains. The amount of difference compounds. In effect, this means that the gap that exists today is bigger than it was in 2016, simply from inflation, let alone adding up every extra unanticipated costs that community governments have to cover. It is unacceptable that such a significant and well-known issue has had its timelines blown through and pushed to the next Assembly. I caution the 19th Assembly that, when this issue is raised, "further study will be needed," be aware that this is what committee and community leaders have heard on this issue for some time now. Community leaders from across the territory have expressed to me that the department has been updating them on the new pending release of the strategy to close the gap, but they have been kept in the dark and have been insufficiently consulted on the work done to date.
Mr. Speaker, we need a costed strategy, followed by real dollars with incremental funding increases year-on-year until the gap is closed. Yes, finding this funding may be difficult, but we must not keep our heads in the sand hoping that this issue will just resolve itself in a few more years with dollars from Ottawa that we don't know are coming.
This deficit hurts people in our communities most. It stifles economic growth, access to services, and leave communities in a worse spot each year than they were before. Most importantly, it adds to the cost of living, because, if municipalities don't have enough to cover their costs, they pass that on to their residents. We must stop this. We must support our communities, respect our community leadership, and live up to our promises of full community funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.