News
Northwest Territories communities complete ICSPs

The Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq, along with Robert C. McLeod, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), and Yellowknife Mayor Gordon Van Tighem, President of the Northwest Territories Association of Communities (NWTAC), announced that all 33 communities across the Northwest Territories have completed their Integrated Community Sustainability Plans (ICSP) as part of the Canada-Northwest Territories Gas Tax Fund Agreement, according to a press release by the NWT government.

“Our government remains committed to helping the Northern economy and investing in regional infrastructure,” said Aglukkaq. “The Gas Tax Fund provides stable, long-term funding that can help communities build the infrastructure they need to improve their sustainability. These ICSPs will make a difference in how communities plan their infrastructure needs for the future.”

Under the Canada-Northwest Territories Gas Tax Fund Agreement, each community had to develop an ICSP by March 31, 2010. ICSPs provide communities with a framework under which community development plans are formalized and adopted, taking into account the economic, environmental, social, cultural, and governance implications.

“The Gas Tax Fund is an initiative that supports environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure and benefits communities by providing predictable funding to increase the capacity of communities to undertake long-term planning,” said McLeod. “Every community in the NWT having an ICSP is a big step towards our government’s goal of creating sustainable, vibrant communities.”

The Gas Tax Fund Agreement provides a total of $97.5 million in funding to NWT communities over a nine-year period from 2005-2006 through to 2013-2014.

For more information about the federal Gas Tax Fund, please visit www.buildingcanada.gc.ca.

May 19, 2010  By Northwest Territories