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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington said he will join his party next week in voting against the Conservative government's federal budget.

He said the NDP has lost confidence in the Conservatives, adding, "the Conservatives are creating a pretty large deficit and they don't have a vision of where this budget should take us."

The budget will pass without Bevington and the NDP's support. Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff announced Wednesday their conditional support for the budget, subject to amendments. The first vote on the budget may come as early as next Tuesday.

Bevington said the Conservatives missed an opportunity to move ahead with green energy initiatives. He said he thought the announcement of $1-billion over five years to support "green" infrastructure wasn't enough, adding the North alone could use $100 million per year for green energy projects such as wind power generators.

"We are not going to keep up with the United States in the development of green energy technology," he said.

Bevington also said NWT communities will continue to have difficulties accessing dollars laid out in the infrastructure-rich budget. Freeing up federal funds requires that the territory and municipalities fork out their own shares to get projects going.

"You're still going to need matching funds. You're still going to need a lot of accounting and reporting requirements and those things are going to slow it down, especially for small communities that can't respond as quickly and don't have the ability to borrow money to cover their shares," he said.

He said the budget could have provided 100 per cent funding for projects "if they were serious about infrastructure."

Bevington, who sits on the standing committee for transport, infrastructure and communities, said he will try to make it easier for the North to free up funds from the infrastructure announcements contained in the budget.

"We don't see a vision that says this is where we want to go in the future," he continued, adding he was disappointed there wasn't much devoted to child or health care.

"It's fine that you are spending the money to stimulate the economy but it doesn't leave us with anything at the end," he said.

Bevington was pleased, however, to see housing funding continued - $50 million over two years - but said the numbers were similar to what the NWT has been receiving for the last three years.

Shortly after the budget was announced Tuesday, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the Conservative MP for Nunavut, praised the budget for providing heaps of money for northern infrastructure such as new roads and water treatment plants.

"I think for the Northwest Territories, it's a big win for us," said Aglukkaq.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem was also happy with the budget, as was Premier Floyd Roland although the premier was disappointed no funds were set aside to build the Mackenzie Valley Highway to the Arctic coast.

Bevington said the national economic situation was "very grave" and the North was not exempt.

He said the NWT government will have to spend more money.

"If it has to run a bit of a deficit itself, it has to do that right now," he said.

"My hope for the North right now is that we all understand that and that we support our local businesses and we do everything we can to keep our communities alive," he said.