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2 Wednesday February 17 2016 POLITICS NATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS Keyano College names interim CEO FollowingtheresignationofKeyanoCollegeCEOandPresi- dent Dr. Kevin Nagel earlier this month the northern Al- bertainstitutehasnamedDr.TracyEdwardsastheinterim replacement.PreviouslyEdwardsheldthesameroleatLe- thbridgeandLakelandCollegesandwastheVicePresident of Academic Aairs and Chief Learning Ocer at Valencia CollegeinOrlandoFlorida.ShehasalsobeennamedYWCA Woman of Distinction and earned a key to the City of Leth- bridge.In2012shereceivedtheLieutenantGovernorsAward for Excellence in Public Administration Alberta Chapter. Territorial health authority implementation pushed to August Last week Health and Social Services announced Sue Cul- len as the interim CEO for the new Territorial Health and SocialServicesAuthority.CullenformerlyservedasCEOof the Hay River HSSA Assistant Deputy Minister of Opera- tionsattheDepartmentofHSSandmostrecentlyasacting CEOoftheStantonTerritorialHospital.Worktoimplement the new territorial authority is ongoing with Aug. 1 2016 set as the eective date for the Authority to commence op- erations a delay from the original proposed date of April 1. Man stabbed trying to break up ght TheRCMPwasalertedtoanadultmalesueringfromastab wound outside the Shell gas station on Range Lake Road in Yellowknife at about 2 a.m. Feb. 14. He was reportedly hurt though not seriously while trying to break up a ght between two other males. Police are now looking for a male suspect 510 to 6 tall with an average build wearing a grey and black plaid jacket. Anyone with information regarding thisinvestigationisaskedtocontacttheYellowknifeRCMPat 867-669-1111orcontactCrimeStoppersat1-800-222-8477. By CRAIG GILBERT The letter Justin Trudeau wrote Premier Bob McLeod during the federal election last fall promising millions for infrastructure and a boost to the Northern residents tax deduction remains a popu- lar document at the GNWT. I told him we read it ev- eryday almost like a Bible Premier Bob McLeod said last Friday. McLeods bilateral meet- ing with Trudeau in Ottawa on Feb. 11 was their rst as government leaders he was unable to attend a rst min- isters meeting on climate change ahead of the COP21 summit in Paris since he was in the midst of his own re- election bid. With the much-anticipated federal budget expected to be made public as early as next month they discussed a number of subjects in- cluding road housing and green infrastructure the glitch that threatens to reduce the NWTs transfer payment from the federal government by 34 million economic development and climate change according to the premier. McLeod was eager to talk about what federal support there would be for power gen- eration projects specically hydroelectric dams - also in that pre-election letter was a promise to provide new dedicated funding to provinces territories and municipalities for public transit social and green infrastructure. He said the NWT had hydroelectric capacity on par with James Bay not- ing where exactly the new projects would go has not been decided. There were some studies done in the past and obvi- ously the most immediate interest is in the Talston he said. When we looked at it the cost was a lot more than we expected so if the federal government has a program where they are prepared to invest money we would be interested in checking it out. He said the GNWT would also pursue federal cash for the cost of building transmis- sion infrastructure as well. Thats the only way it would go ahead if the fed- eral government saw t to invest in it he said. We wanted to make sure we got our fair share of funding. We need to reduce our use of fossil fuels and we want to use more renewable forms of energy and become more energy ecient. A building strategy McLeod made sure he mentioned strategic infra- structure major projects he hopes will go ahead thanks to Trudeaus promise to mas- sively boost federal spending. In his letter Trudeau said the Liberal plan is to nearly double federal infrastructure investment from 65 billion to 125 billion over the next 10 years and doubling that spending in each of the next two scal years. I brought up that we had put in an application for the Mackenzie Valley Highway overayearagoandwewanted toextendtheall-weatherroad into the Slave Geologic Prov- ince and build an all-weather road to Whati McLeod said. We talked about the fact that were a large territory but we only have 44000 people so our preference when it comes to allocating infrastructure money that it not be done on a per-capita basis. They agreed there is still 185 million in federal fund- ing earmarked for capital projects in the NWT that has not been spent yet. Trudeau said they were working very hard to roll out their infrastructure pro- gramMcLeodsaid.Wesaid we wanted to conrm NWT had put in a list of projects and were waiting for them to be approved. He said the budget is on the way. McLeod informed Trudeau the GNWT is acutely inter- ested in the changes made to the assessment process for pipeline projects. He mentioned an agree- ment to do a review after five years McLeod said. He thought it might be fast- tracked if a review was being undertaken. I indicated In- digenous and Northern Af- fairs Minister Carolyn Bennett appeared open to it. Were following up with a letter we are very familiar with the issue. A shrinking problem The leaders also discussed the high cost of living in the NWT which Trudeau has pledged to address with a long-awaited increase to the Northern Residents Tax Deduction. McLeod said the prime minister reiterated the intent to increase the deduction. Were the only jurisdic- tion for past ve years or so whose population is declin- ing McLeod said. When we check into it its largely because of the high cost of living. Housing is a big issue also and is becoming a big- ger issue as the need contin- ues to grow. I mentioned that housing infrastructure is dif- ferent in the North than the south and he agreed. Filling the glitch The prime ministerisvery aware of the issue with the territorys transfer payment which came as a shock to bu- reaucrats at all three north- ern territories when it was discovered before Christ- mas. A change to the way the transfer is calculated based on Statistics Canada data resulted in the NWTs pay- ment being reduced by 34 million to 1.256 billion or 28352 per capita. I said we appreciate the fact Finance Minister Bill Morneau has committed to take action very quickly McLeod said. The prime minister is very aware of the issue and re-committed that the federal government was working to resolve it very soon. It makes a dicult situ- ation more dicult. Almost three months after the election took place MLAs will begin their rst legisla- tive session together on Feb. 18 but McLeod expects the GNWTs challenging scal forecast will not be dealt with right away. Were stillinthe veryearly stages he said. We have to get approval of our mandate and we have to deal with the interim budget and it prob- ablywontbeuntilthenextsit- ting I would imagine when wewouldstarttodealwiththe scalsituation.Thefederal- nance minister indicated his budget will be out in March so it would tie in nicely. Hydro roads housing top topics as premier visits Trudeau PhotocourtesyofPMOFlickr Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosted NWT Premier Bob McLeod in Ottawa on Feb. 11. The leaders had not met since their respective elections in the fall and discussed among other things a promised increase to the tax credit for Northern residents.