Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I do understand that it would be under the capital. However, if we're not keeping up with the cost of doing maintenance and operating systems, they will start to deteriorate. And given the fact that we have seen an increase in supply chain costs, lack of contractors, the inability for, you know, people to get into communities at a cheap rate -- I think was actually just seeing something where a fundraiser meant to raise money actually ended up costing an NGO money because they had a bunch of changes to travel. So given that operations and maintenance then leads to less repairs and capital funding needed later, can the Minister or department speak to why we're not increasing the amount of operations and maintenance funding in this area? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of MACA.

Yes, right now there's where our budget is. Unfortunately this is the money that we have that we allocate. I can tell the House here that I've been working with my colleagues from Nunavut and Yukon trying to reach out to the federal government to get additional funding for municipalities. And I actually have another meeting this summer with the two Ministers, as well working with NWTAC and their co-sisters across the territories, this approach with the federal government to get more additional funding because I think the Member is correct, there is crumbling infrastructure that we're trying to get funding for. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I'm glad to hear the Minister acknowledges that this is a concern. I think another piece that really needs to be acknowledged here is the impacts of climate change and the extreme weather events that we're now seeing as a result of that. The increased amount of freeze/thaw cycles as well as, I imagine, more extreme weather changes quicker. So my -- I guess I just want to reemphasize that there needs to be an increase here, and not only here but in actual preventative work for the communities, in order to not only repair what's really -- or degrading but to prevent further degradation. So I do just really want to emphasize that. I think money spent here and in the communities would be well spent.

My next question is about the increase to the senior citizens and disabled persons' property tax relief. Can the Minister or the department -- I believe it's about a 230K increase. Can the Minister or department please tell me how that is actually going to translate to any sort of reliefs on the ground and in what way does a senior citizen actually benefit from that increase? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of MACA.

For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Thank you. Deputy minister Gareau.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And is this a program -- and I probably should already know this, but is this one where there is income testing? It is wrapped, I'm assuming, to how much income tax people are paying and therefore their actual income, and if so, is there a move to change that cap given the increased cost of living? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of MACA.

Yes, thank you. So it's not income tested. Just need to be a senior or disabled to be able to access this program. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So this, again, seems like an area perhaps that might be worthwhile to increase amounts of -- even more so, I think, given that seniors are probably going to be some of our hardest hit when it comes to dealing with things like the carbon tax and other such costs of living increases.

So can the Minister speak to is there another area where seniors or people with disabilities are getting an increase in relief? Thank you.

Thank you. Not with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to ask this if it's not the right spot, is there any savings coming to the department -- or sorry, to seniors around the land leases? But I don't think this is the right spot. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister of MACA.

Sorry, no, I don't have that information. It's the lands. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.