2021 FEDERAL ELECTION PLATFORM - Northwest Territories Association of Communities - NWTAC
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Northwest Territories Association of Communities 2021 FEDERAL ELECTION PLATFORM The Northwest Territories Association of Communities (NWTAC) has prepared this Federal Election Platform in order to make prospective candidates aware of the issues that are important to NWT Communities. The submission has been prepared by the NWTAC on the basis of the adopted resolutions of the organization, analysis of municipal governance issues and priorities for improvement of NWT economic and social conditions, and the priorities shared with partner organizations including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. #200, 5105-50th Street, Yellowknife, NT X1A 1S1 Tel. (867) 873-8359 | Toll Free 1-866-973-8359 | Fax (867) 873-3042 info@nwtac.com | www.nwtac.com | www.toolkitnwtac.com The NWTAC office is open from 9 AM to Noon and 1 PM to 5 PM Monday to Friday.
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The NWTAC
The NWTAC is the non-profit, non-governmental
organization representing the interests of all 33 NWT
communities. The NWTAC presents a unified voice for
communities on municipal goals and issues, based upon
the membership’s democratic adoption of resolutions
and policy. We promote these priorities through advocacy
to the territorial and federal governments and through
our membership in the national Federation of Canadian
Municipalities.
1. Infrastructure Funding
Being a jurisdiction, where the Northern communities face:
lack of infrastructure is readily • extreme isolation and shipping
acknowledged, it has been very challenges;
heartening to see additional funding
• a shorter and highly variable
being allocated to municipal construction season;
infrastructure in the last few Federal
• limited human resource availability
budgets. The doubling of the Gas
and capacity;
Tax Fund, although short term, (GTF)
was particularly welcome. We would • limited access to funding;
strongly encourage this to continue • growing demands on aging and
and become permanent and be existing infrastructure;
enhanced. • early stages of corporate
development;
The unique conditions of Northern and
remote communities greatly affect how • unique project needs.
municipal infrastructure is built and
maintained.
2021 FEDERAL ELECTION PLATFORM
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The Gas Tax Fund or newly renamed
Canadian Community Building Fund
2. Climate Change
(CCBF) works very well in the territorial Federal focus on the climate change
North, because of its flexibility and challenge to date has been on
predictability and because it does not Flooding & Wildfires as that is the
require cost-sharing and is base plus. primary imminent risks in the south.
Further its flexibility and allocation These are just two of the many
basis means that projects that are climate Change Challenges being
chosen are based on the priorities of faced in the North.
the community – this is in keeping
with the focus on Asset Management In the NWT, Climate Change isn’t a
as being encouraged by all levels of distant, abstract problem – it’s here
government. now and NWT communities are at
the forefront of the climate change
Building communities in the North is challenge.
important for local social and economic
sustainability. A recent study completed The rapid warming, at 2 to 4 times the
for us by the Conference Board of rate as the rest of Canada, is causing
Canada Centre for the North showed significant changes in the natural
that for every million dollars invested at environment including ice, permafrost,
a community level, 13 jobs are created water, vegetation and wildlife. The
as compared to roughly half that for frequency and severity of extreme
Federal and Territorial direct spending. weather events is also increasing.
These changes are causing problems
COVID-19 stimulus should include for human health, public safety, food
funding for capital that is a priority for security, infrastructure and economic
individual communities and should be and cultural activities.
provided in an allocation method like
the Canadian Community Building Fund.
Some of the challenges include:
• Permafrost Thaw
Recommendations:
• Flooding and Extreme Weather
• That the government make
• Coastal and River Erosion
the doubling of the Canadian
Community Building Fund • Wildfires
permanent. • Unsafe Access to the Land
• The Canadian Community • Human Health and Well Being
Building Fund works very
• Transportation (ice roads, sea-lift,
well in the NWT, because it
airports)
is allocation based, flexible,
predictable and does • Water and Waste
not require cost-sharing. • Agriculture and Food Security
All future infrastructure • Economic Development
programs should be
designed in the same way.
2021 FEDERAL ELECTION PLATFORM4
Extreme weather conditions shorten
the life of many assets in the North, and
climate change, which is occurring twice Recommendations:
as rapidly than in the south, exacerbates • That the government ensure
this effect. that adequate funding is
being provided to Territorial
In this time of climate change, many
Governments, Indigenous
additional expenditures will be
Governments and Local
required as well in order to ensure the
Governments to ensure that
sustainability of the communities and
they are well equipped to
the Territorial economy. The NWTAC has
meet the Climate Change
completed a study showing the fiscal
challenge
impact of permafrost decay alone on
public infrastructure will be in the order • The design of any programs
of $1.3 billion. to support climate change
in the North must be
The scale of the Climate Change done in consultation with
Challenge in the NWT far exceeds Northerners to ensure that
the capacity of the Territorial or local they have uptake and are
governments to address and will require effective.
a considerable fiscal investment by
the federal government first to finish
articulating the scope and scale of the
challenge as well as actually mitigating
and addressing those impacts.
As well, programs that facilitate the
development of Territorial projects which
3. Increasing the Supply
will encourage trade including highway of Housing
development such as the Mackenzie In the majority of NWT communities,
Valley Highway will have significant heavy reliance upon public
impacts on Economic Development housing is required as a result of
as well as increasing the resilience of high unemployment and the lack
the communities to climate change of a private housing market. The
that are on the route. There needs to Government of the Northwest
be an exploration of the Territorial Territories (GNWT) spends roughly
Government’s contribution amounts as 25 times more per capita on housing
the GNWT debt limit is setting the pace at than does a typical Canadian province.
which some of this work can occur. Relative to the rest of Canada, more
NWT residents live in more crowded
Given the role this region plays in conditions and in housing more in need
national sovereignty and supporting of major repair.
resource development, these
investments should be seen as
critical to nation building.
2021 FEDERAL ELECTION PLATFORM5
The percentage of households in core The private marketplace has not been
need (households with a housing and will not be efficient in delivering
problem and income below the core assets considered critical to social and
need income threshold) stands at 12% economic development in the region
in communities considered to have a due to size of both the Territory and
private housing market, and 42% in the communities within it. COVID-19
non-market communities. Although has further highlighted the urgency
rental vacancy rates are rising in of this issue in the NWT. Many of the
Yellowknife (the only community where programs that were instituted in the last
data is available), there is no territory- while have proven challenging to access
wide estimate of the volume of the and maintain in the small and remote
shortfall in housing units. The NWT communities of the NWT especially.
Housing Corporation routinely reports
waiting lists for housing units in excess
of 400 applicants.
Recommendations:
In its national campaign, the Federation • The dire state of housing
of Canadian Municipalities has inadequacy requires extra-
identified lack of affordable housing as ordinary allocation of federal
“the most urgent financial issue facing funds to overcome the
Canadians today”. The NWT Association deficit in the housing supply.
of Communities adopted a resolution A long-term federal funding
calling lack of housing “a violation of commitment for housing is
human dignity and of human rights… critical to address the unmet
representing the most extreme form housing needs of NWT
of poverty and deprivation” and called residents.
on the government “direct and fund its
• Affordable housing
departments to end homelessness in
agreements must be flexible
the Northwest Territories.”
and respect provincial and
Progress on overcoming the deficit in territorial jurisdictions,
affordable, adequate and available chronic homelessness and
housing in the NWT cannot be achieved inadequacy of housing
without a renewed federal commitment must be eliminated through
to funding the construction and renewal proven strategies; tax
of social and affordable housing, incentives or other measures
through a national housing strategy. must be used to stimulate
Although some progress has been made new rental and affordable
on this front, increased investments are housing construction; and,
still required. special, territorial funding
transfers are required to
preserve and renovate
existing social housing units.
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4. Telecommunications In today’s knowledge based global
economy these service gaps are a
Given the remote nature and significant impediment to participating
size of NWT communities, effectively.
telecommunications is extremely
Another area of concern for northern
critical. There is no ability to drive
communities is a lack of redundancy
to many resources whether it is a
which leaves communities vulnerable to
store, bank, health care provider,
service outages and technical failures.
educator, police etc. so all forms of Service failures in the summer of 2019
telecommunications are extremely alone were estimated to have a cost of
important to NWT communities $10 million on the local economies.
participating in the digital economy.
Having all telecommunication
Access to broadband internet has systems off-line for days at a time is
become essential to living in the unacceptable today and yet it is a fairly
modern world and the lack of access or common occurrence in the North.
bandwidth limitations in the North has
long been identified as an impediment While considerable improvements
to the growth of our communities and have been made to ensure cell service
the NWT as a whole. to all NWT communities, there is still
considerable vulnerability to the
Levels of service that are taken for driving public as there is no cell service
granted in the south are unheard of in between communities – distances of
much of the NWT. Something as simple 100’s of kilometers.
as a logo in an email can bring your
email to a grinding halt. Attempting to While some progress has been made in
file a document required for a funding previous federal budgets, more needs
grant to your community can prove nigh to be done. COVID-19 really highlighted
on impossible. the inadequacy of current networks and
the vulnerability of our northern and
The NWT is experiencing a general out remote communities.
migration and some of this may be
attributed to the inability to function
in today’s digital world. It is certainly
listed as a liability for businesses
attempting to operate in the NWT and
the same can be said for municipal
corporations. It is also an impediment
for recruiting employees with young
families.
2021 FEDERAL ELECTION PLATFORM7
including the aforementioned
Recommendations: housing and homelessness and
• It is important to other areas like employment,
ensure the NWT and the education, early childhood
North have adequate development, food security, and
telecommunications and mental health and addictions.
broadband (in terms of
speed, bandwidth and
availability) to ensure
Northerners can effectively Recommendations:
participate in not only the
• Implement the Arctic and
digital economy but all
Northern Policy Framework
aspects of digital life.
to create a future where
• The reality in the North Northern and Arctic people
is that we cannot wait for are thriving, strong and safe.
market forces to drive our
• Implement the Truth and
progress and that funding
Reconciliation Commission’s
must be secured for this
Calls to Action and the
to happen. Basic service
National Inquiry into Missing
objectives must include
and Murdered Indigenous
high-speed internet access
Women and Girls’ Calls for
and service reliability and
Justice in partnership with
funding must be to these
First Nations, Inuit and Métis
levels of service which one
Peoples.
would argue have become
the new “basic”. • Provide more accessible
and affordable childcare.
• More work needs to be done
Negotiate agreements with
to ensure cellular coverage
the Government of the
is put in place along all NWT
Northwest Territories to
Highways to ensure the
provide subsidized childcare
safety of the driving public.
throughout the NWT.
This should include all newly
constructed highways. • Adequately fund the
provision of Mental Health
and Addictions treatment to
allow the Territories to move
5. Reconciliation & Social beyond the harm reduction
Determinants of Health model that is not even being
achieved.
So much of the ability of the NWT to
move forward is tied to Reconciliation
and the social determinants of health
2021 FEDERAL ELECTION PLATFORMFor more information of the NWTAC platform for the
2021 Federal Election please contact:
Sara Brown
Chief Executive Officer
NWT Association of Communities
(867) 873-8359
sara@nwtac.comYou can also read
