Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am interested in the aspect of this bill that covers the provision of airport lands to businesses and other tenants, especially the case at our larger airports, Mr. Chair, where there is more business and commercial activity. Of late here in Yellowknife, I think a relatively long-standing issue has cycled up again. This relates to the ability of businesses to access our airport lands on a leased basis and then, of course, the comparative cost of that land to other commercial options. Perhaps a question of the core of this is, to what extent could, or should...

So then, if I could offer a bit of advice, it’s that you shouldn’t do as I do in the stock market. You should not buy…How does it work now? I can’t even figure that one out. You don’t want to buy high and sell low, for what it’s worth. Mr. Chairman, finally, will the department be able to sort of track its performance once we start using this methodology here so that we can get some sense of have we actually achieved some savings, or potentially have we cost ourselves some money? Would that be able to be measured and reported, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. Chairman, has the vision run any scenarios? Again, I’d just like to get a sense of if we had this instrument and we had this practice in place, say, over the past fiscal year, given the volatility and the conditions of the market, do you have a scenario…Does the division have a scenario or even some good estimates of what we may have saved if we’d had this in place? Again, Mr. Chairman, just to give me an idea of the scale and the scope of the kind of money we’re talking about here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance and they relate to the introduction of the budget, the 2006-2007 budget. I’m trying to focus on one area, Mr. Speaker, and that’s the area of long-term debt. As the Minister described, one of our priority initiatives with Ottawa is to get a new fiscal financing deal, and part of that is a modernized way of handling our debt. But we need to work with what we know right now, which is that $300 million limit, Mr. Speaker. With the forecast that is provided in the budget document, we see that we are going to be pushing our debt...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The budget address has given us a new platform and starting point. Just a couple of the highlights that I pick off the address that Mr. Roland has given us; we’re going to start the year with a forecast surplus of $18 million. I’m pleased to see this and that we’re going to be doing this within the terms of the fiscal responsibility framework, the fiscal responsibility policy that I’m a big supporter of, and I want the government to know that I’m happy to see that we’re staying within those terms and hope that we can continue to do so.

Mr. Speaker, we also note that we’re...

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that context, but we’re looking to a situation where we may be handing off to the 16th Assembly, after the election in the fall of 2007, a situation where there will be no credit line, a big debt or cost of servicing that debt, and in fact the fiscal situation they inherit for the coming year will be that they’re over $460 million in debt. Way over the line. So I guess let’s ask this another way. Is there a plan B? How can we avoid passing on this kind of a gloomy situation? Thank you.

Along with my other colleagues, Mr. Speaker, a welcome to the full executive of the Union of Northern Workers and to my constituent, Todd Parsons, the president of the UNW. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Mr. Speaker, one of the terms of comfort that we offered was to say that it’s the intention of the GNWT to maintain a post-devolution royalty regime for the three anchor gas fields. Now, we have always said, government has always said that First Nations' governments have got to be at the table whenever we talk devolution. Did we consult with the First Nations on this position? Did we compromise their interest by agreeing to lock in to royalty rates in a post-devolution environment?

Consultation is an enormous need and an expectation that we have and that we’re going to be able to do our job over here. But this was, among many, the greatest example, the worst example, Mr. Speaker, of how this government has failed to consult with the Members on this side.

There is a major policy position at stake here -- huge -- potentially affecting millions of dollars in future revenues. Why did the Premier and the Cabinet not consult with MLAs until hours before they released that letter?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to address my questions to Premier Handley. This is in respect of communication with proponents of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline. Mr. Speaker, we have been seeking a fair share of our resource royalties for years in the NWT. There was a golden opportunity to really get somewhere; that is to bargain with the gas producers’ need for certainty on tax and royalty regimes, to translate that into certainty for our own need here in the NWT for fiscal fairness from Ottawa. Mr. Speaker, why didn’t the Premier and the Finance Minister stand up and fight for the...