The federal government is currently accepting applications for its active transportation fund for capital projects. The City of Yellowknife will not apply. 

The fund opened soon after the city's budget closed, Coun. Ben Hendriksen explained during a Governance and Priorities Committee meeting on Jan. 27. According to his proposed motion for the city to apply, the fund would cover up to three quarters of active transportation capital infrastructure in the NWT. 

鈥淭his is an opportunity as a city to leverage federal money, in order to have a real impact in our city, on something that we've said as a council we want,鈥� Hendriksen explained. 鈥淚t seems to me, if we don't take advantage of this, we're actually indicating we don't want to do what we've said we want to do.鈥� 

What Hendriksen's referring to is the city's master transportation plan, to be drafted to create an overall strategy that addresses active and public transportation. The plan is slated for this completion year and funding would then help cover related cost and actualize those strategies. 

He described missing out on applying for these federal funds as 鈥渇iscally irresponsible.鈥� 

鈥淲e have had projects brought to council in the past, not necessarily our council, and never acted upon because of budget constraints 鈥� budget constraints that can be significantly alleviated through this fund,鈥� said Hendriksen. He also mentioned that this funding is for projects to be completed by March 2030, which doesn't amount to a time crunch, as he put it. 

鈥淎ll we need is a commitment from ourselves that we want more for our city beyond the status quo. We need a commitment saying that if we want to do something, we can make it happen. If we don't apply for this funding, we are committing Yellowknifers to paying four times more for capital projects, that we may otherwise potentially have covered to the tune of 75 per cent from the federal government,鈥� said Hendriksen. 

City manager Stephen van Dine said the city is always open to finding ways of leveraging dollars, but the municipality does not have the time needed to prepare a credible application in time. The deadline to apply is Feb. 26. 

Coun. Ryan Fequet voiced his general support for applying. 

鈥淚t seems to me that we have things that would fall within this that were going to cost us money anyways,鈥� he said. 

Coun. Tom McLennan also expressed support for the motion to apply. 

鈥淩esidents expect us to do more than plan things,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey expect practical results. Practical results mean money.鈥� 

McLennan added that the city's transportation master plan will need a great deal of money to implement. 

鈥淭his is an opportunity for us to use a very flexible fund to significantly reduce the costs to Yellowknifers for active transportation projects,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want us to show we're serious about results. Supporting this motion shows that.鈥� 

Coun. Garett Cochrane said he's always on board with obtaining financing from Ottawa, but given that administration said they cannot create a substantial application in time, it would be futile, he suggested. 

To apply, city staff would need to come up with accurate, up-to-date cost estimates for eligible capital projects, among other tasks. 

鈥淭he timeline is so strenuous that I just don't think we'll realistically be able to get this done in a way where we'll be able to get any real funding,鈥� Cochrane said. 鈥淚f we apply for this, we might even have to rescind it because of the fact we don't have these proper estimations.鈥� 

He added that he hopes the city we'll get another chance to apply in the future. 

Coun. Steve Payne sided with Cochrane. He also noted what would need to happen to the city's current work plan to complete this application in time, pointing out administration already has its hands full. 

鈥淲e always keep asking for more and more and more. Right now, I'm not in support of this motion,鈥� he said. 

Coun. Stacie Arden-Smith concurred. 

鈥淎dministration is already fully loaded,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don't want us to be putting more onto their shoulders that they can't handle. It'll just mean that something will have to be removed, unfortunately, and I don't want to see that either.鈥� 

Coun. Rob Warbuton said he supports the motion. 

Mayor Rebecca Alty was opposed, again noting administration is swamped and there's no guarantee the city gets its application approved. 

鈥淭here will be another funding pot,鈥� said Alty. 鈥淚t's the name of the game, they just change the name and add some new funding.鈥� 

Hendriksen gave one last plea, noting Coun. Cat McGurk's absence, and said he thinks she would likely be the swing vote. Ultimately, the motion was defeated.