Yellowknife (Jun 14/06) - More than $1 million for public transportation is available for the NWT, but the recent changing of the guard in Ottawa has stalled its distribution.

That's according to Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) deputy minister Debbie DeLancey.

"We were in the process of negotiating, but the federal election put everything on hold," said DeLancey of the Public Transit Fund announced by Paul Martin's Liberal government in June of last year.

However, Yellowknife City Coun. Blake Lyons said that "in no uncertain terms" the city was promised a million dollars. As well, Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins evoked Martin's "Mr. Dithers" nickname to describe his perception of MACA Minister Michael McLeod's handling of the affair.

But there's been no dithering, according to DeLancey, who noted some confusion may have been present in the wording of the announcement.

"When it was announced, the government set some broad guidelines, but they've communicated to us that they could be flexible," she said. "The focus was on established transit systems, but that was never a hard and fast requirement. Right from the beginning (Ottawa) said they'd be flexible to the needs of each jurisdiction."

According to both MACA and Infrastructure Canada, when the Conservative government took power any money not yet negotiated was rolled over into a new Public Transit Trust.

While the GNWT may have to wait a little longer to get its hands on the funding, DeLancey said the new trust could mean slightly more money for the territory.

"At the beginning we were eligible for somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1 million," she said. "Now it could be around $1.2 million, but we won't know until the budget surplus is released in the fall."

Until then, DeLancey reiterated Minister McLeod's statement in the House - that MACA would consult with the NWT Associations of Communities on the territories' public transportation needs before negotiating with the feds.

"This is not Yellowknife money, as (Hawkins) has referenced these dollars for," said McLeod in response to the MLA's questioning. "There are a number of criteria possible... community vans, handy vans, bike lanes, intelligent transportation systems."

- with files from Emily Watkins