Floyd Roland

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

Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make operations expenditures and capital investment expenditures for the 2004-05 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some say that will be the last time I get applause in the House.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, before I get into the formal budget address, I would just like to inform the House of the footwear I have brought into this Assembly. It’s a pair of slippers, Mr. Speaker. They aren’t brand new. They are 17 years old, or pieces of them are 17 years old. It was a gift I had given to me from my sister made by a Gwich’in elder in Inuvik, Elizabeth Greenland, as a wedding gift. The upper bead portion is the original. The inside fur is part of the original slippers. The rest are hand...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 1, Appropriation Act, 2004-2005. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, March 19, 2004, I will move that Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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. I give notice that on Thursday, March 18, 2004, I will move that Bill 1, Appropriation Act, 2004-2005, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the Budget Address on Wednesday, March 17, 2004. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.