MLAs call for assembly to close municipal funding gap

Regular MLAs are united in wanting to increase funding to Northwest Territories communities.

For years, the territorial government has acknowledged there is a gap between the funding it provides to municipalities and the money communities say they need to cover costs for things such as infrastructure.

Hay River, for example, has said its 10-year capital plan is underfunded by approximately $9 million a year.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said the current funding gap across communities extends to $52 million. He told the legislature on Monday that while the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs had updated its policies in 2023 to address the gap, that was not reflected in the territory’s latest budget.

Hawkins introduced a motion – which he said was a collaboration among regular MLAs – calling on the government to reallocate funding to implement those revised policies.

The motion also called on the territory to make its funding gap calculations public and include a new stream of cash for community public safety and emergency preparedness.

“We are united in the context of understanding that we know our communities need more help,” he said of his fellow members.

Former Yellowknife city councillor Julian Morse, now the Frame Lake MLA, said he supported efforts to address the discrepancy between the funding communities receive and what they say they need.

“It’s a constant struggle,” he said, “and certainly something that I think is worth the GNWT paying its time to, and paying attention to, and putting money towards.”

Shauna Morgan, another former city councillor turned Yellowknife North MLA, said the territory’s calculations suggest an average NWT community gets only about 52 percent of the water and waste funding it needs, 74 percent of operations and maintenance funding, and 77 percent of capital funding.

“This really is something that affects communities all across the territory and I hope we make some solid progress in this assembly,” she said.

Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Denny Rodgers, previously a councillor and mayor in the town, said it’s “very important” for the territory to bridge the funding gap and ensure funding is spread equitably.

“We can see and feel the funding gaps greatly, especially in small communities where [a] lot of our infrastructures are deteriorating,” said Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong, who was previously a councillor in Behchokǫ̀.

Weyallon Armstrong highlighted the estimated $10-million cost of replacing ageing infrastructure that has caused water and sewage issues in Edzo. The territorial government said in 2022 it had no funding to address that problem. Weyallon Armstrong said on Monday the community has had to find other funding for the work.

Maca minister Vince McKay, a former councillor in Hay River, said his department currently provides more than $120 million annually to community governments. He said the latest budget proposes an additional $2.5 million for operations and maintenance and an additional $1.3 million for water, waste and sewer in communities.

McKay added the department is working to implement revised funding allocations.

“Funding sustainability, sustainable community government services is a shared responsibility of all levels of government,” he said.

“The GNWT remains committed to working in partnership with their community governments and to advocating for more funding from the federal government in ways that will best serve municipal service needs and NWT residents.”

The motion passed with all 11 regular MLAs voting in favour. Cabinet members abstained from the vote, as they normally do in such circumstances, which drew groans from Hawkins and Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart.

Motions from regular members are non-binding. The territorial government has 120 days to respond.