Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the government can put measures in place through policy and through understanding. You can put something in place. We’ve done it, as you can say, through our fiscal strategy to balance the books by 2006-2007. So we’ve informally, in a sense, headed in that direction. To actually put things in place that are measurable, that people can say you are going to be measured to and held accountable to, it would be much more forward to put it in legislation that governments coming down the road would have to, if they’re going to change it, make changes in this arena on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ll have that information put together, consolidated from all of the departments, and the Ministers will be prepared to respond to specific detailed questions when their departments come up. But we will pull that together. It will probably be a one-page consolidated number that we work from. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated earlier, in market communities where there’s competition for developers and construction trades, there is room for that competitive spirit. Developing of lots is up to the municipalities to see what they can make available. It is expensive for them, but they do have the tools and avenues that they are able to do that. Non-tax-based or the general taxation area -- it should be correctly terminated as general taxation areas -- there is not the flexibility and the revenue for them to look at the high cost of just developing for small housing projects, whether...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the area that the Member has highlighted, this, of course, is an initiative that we're trying to address in non-market communities where it's very difficult right now and a lot of businesses and bankers are not keen to go in because of the high cost and the shortage of dollars and things from communities because of the way they're funded. So this program, through MACA, is doing that one little bit to try to help them in those communities. Members will have an opportunity to address the concerns through this budget process with Municipal and Community...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are unaware of what would have caused them to decide to file in the Northwest Territories, besides having a main part of their office and their infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. A company can’t remove all of its earnings and pay it in another jurisdiction. There is still a portion of that they would have to pay here depending on the size of the company, where their other office locations are and the size of their earnings in other jurisdictions as well. Those one-time earnings were good in one sense and bad in another, because that has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have looked at a number of options and potential impacts, and that is one of the areas of potential lost revenue, is that large companies that have the ability to file in another jurisdiction would do so. At the same time, previously we did have a 14 percent corporate tax rate and felt that going back to the amount it was, hopefully wouldn’t drive out people to invest in other jurisdictions. That is one of the areas we did look at but, as the Member stated, we have to address the issue of our rebasing the tax effort. If we don’t do that then we will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that Bill 1, Appropriation Act, 2004-2005, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, March 19, 2004, I will move that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, No. 2, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the process is set up now we would do further internal work and then I would present my Cabinet colleagues with information to see if, in fact, that is the right course we’re heading on, and from their input either go back to the drawing board or make some changes. If once accepted by Cabinet it’s good enough to go to the next stage, then we would go to the Members of the Assembly through the committee process to have their input if we’ve got it right in the legislative proposal process. Then it kicks off, as the Member is aware, through that process...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is an area that we’re beginning to do some work on to look at what options of a fiscal responsibility legislation that we could bring forward for Members. That’s why it’s worded as it is. We need to work with the Members to see what would be acceptable. Things, for example, like what the actual interest bite is -- as the terminology that's used -- or repayment of a debt would be highlighted in the budget, what type of debt that we could actually incur. One of the concerns we have is with our structural deficit that we find ourselves in is not to get...