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Councillor upset mayor won't lobby minister Simon Whitehouse Northern News Services Published Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wind had requested Mayor Gord Van Tighem to ask the minster for infrastructure assistance to help repair the aging water and sewer lines in the residential area. The request came during the mayor's weekly activities report during a Municipal Services Committee meeting, Monday. At the time, Van Tighem said there were no plans to discuss the issue with the health minister nor would it be added to the agenda as discussion topics were submitted to the minister in advance and could not be changed. The mayor added the city is in contact with the federal government on Northland. Van Tighem said the Northland issue is "very lively and current" and there are other items which also need attention. Wind said he was "disappointed" given the efforts city administration has made to seek funds. "I was interested in the substance of those conversations (between the mayor and the minister) as opposed to a friendly chat like, 'How do you feel now that you are back in cabinet' and stuff like that. To me, this is an opportunity to bring city issues to the fore." Dennis Bevington, member of Parliament for the Western Arctic, said there is a need for the federal government to do more to assist with Northern infrastructure needs. "Infrastructure is one area where we can utilize a stimulus," Bevington said. "The way to do that is to open the fiscal capacity of the GNWT so that it can still invest." Bevington said he introduced a private member's bill in the last parliament which could have increased the borrowing limit for the GNWT, but the federal government refused to support it. "They said it would make an arrangement with the GNWT and they promised this in April. Here we are another fiscal year and we are still not clear on a borrowing limit. Without fiscal capacity for the GNWT, we are going to be in a very difficult situation right across the whole North."
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