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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro is continuing to press Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger for help in addressing the water and sewer infrastructure problems plaguing Northland trailer park residents.

"I really thought that a no- or low-interest loan from the GNWT to the city was a viable solution," Bisaro said yesterday during the first day of the second session of the 17th legislative assembly. To say she was disappointed in the GNWT's response would be "a major understatement," she said.

It will cost up to $20 million dollars to repair Northland's infrastructure problems - a figure that many residents say is prohibitive. The City of Yellowknife asked the NWT Housing Corporation for help in the form of a no-interest loan but received word in January its request had been denied.

Miltenberger said the GNWT has no policy to deal with the matter and is nearly at its borrowing limit so there is no room to provide the money.

On Tuesday, Bisaro dismissed Miltenberger's response, arguing that a lack of government policy for a particular matter "has seldom been a problem before now. If the political will is there a policy can be developed to fix the problem."

She also criticized the government's "can't-do" attitude and its failure to provide any other solution. There was "no indication of willingness on the part of the GNWT to help out at all," she said.

Bisaro added she believes the government can assist Northland residents, even if a loan is not the answer.

"I'm hoping my colleagues across the floor do not wash their hands of this problem," she said.

Miltenberger insisted yesterday, as he did in January, that the Northland problem was fundamentally a municipal issue and that the inability of the condominium corporation to get organized continues to impede any progress on the issue, which he said had been ongoing for 17 years.

The finance minister said changes to the condo corporation must be made first and foremost, and that a debenture vote on what Northland residents can or should pay must take place on the municipal level.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said in January that an alternate solution would involve Northland residents paying a "local improvement charge," which would cover the costs of the city borrowing money for the project. Northland homeowners would be required to pay an extra $455 per month for 25 years if the cost of repairs reached $20 million. The charge would have to be approved by at least 66.6 per cent of Northland homeowners in order to pass.

Bisaro urged Miltenberger to work with his cabinet colleagues to re-examine the Northland issue with a "can-do" attitude. She asked the minister whether the GNWT would consider the loan request if the federal government raised the GNWT's borrowing limit, something Premier Bob McLeod had earlier indicated was a possibility.

"The city has indicated they don't need to borrow money from us, that they can get money at as cheap a rate as we can," said Miltenberger. "If the city of Yellowknife takes some further steps on the Northland issue and comes back to us we will look at their request at that time."

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