Debates of February 1, 2006 (day 20)

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 future of northerners, instead of giving into the demands of the gas producers and the pipeline companies? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 313-15(4): GNWT’s ‘Letter Of Comfort’ To Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Producers

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, as a government, have to be able to balance a number of issues at one time. We can’t deal with one issue at a time. So there are a number of things in play, and I don’t know if the Member can keep up with all the things that are happening here or not.

Boo.

I can suggest that while we are looking at creating a fair fiscal environment and a good balanced fiscal environment, we’re also looking at resource revenue sharing.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that Mr. Braden’s implication in his statement earlier on that somehow creating this instability would somehow help us to make a better deal on resources revenue sharing at a time when the federal government is in an election, I just don’t quite understand his reasoning there. I want to take this opportunity to assure all businesses, whether it’s a big pipeline business, a diamond business, the mom-and-pop grocery store on the corner, that we, as a government, believe in a good, fair, balanced fiscal environment as being number one. If you don’t have that, you don’t have business, you don’t have jobs and you don’t have programs. So, Mr. Speaker, I don’t follow Mr. Braden’s logic. If there is one there, I don’t follow what it is.

Boo.

Mr. Speaker, what we agreed to with Imperial is an agreement that said we are going to be fair. We are a responsible government that we’re taking over through devolution responsibilities, and we’re going to be fair with you in the same way we’re fair with every other little business in the community. We’re not going to hold you hostage or use you for a pawn to achieve some other objective we might have. We’re responsible; we’re fair; we’re good government. We’re not some banana republic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Interjection

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

That’s it; the gloves are off.

Supplementary To Question 313-15(4): GNWT’s ‘Letter Of Comfort’ To Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Producers

I’ll be putting in a requisition for a pair of new running shoes to make sure that I can keep up with this government and this Premier on the breakneck speed in which they fail, Mr. Speaker, to consult with us. This is a consensus government.

Hear! Hear!

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?

Why?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 313-15(4): GNWT’s ‘Letter Of Comfort’ To Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Producers

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope Mr. Braden gets those running shoes, because he’ll need them to keep up with us.

Ohhh.

Mr. Speaker, I must say that, going right back to our strategic plan in the government, we talked about a strong economy and having a good fiscal environment. I hope the Member refers back to some of those documents. In terms of consensus government, that has been talked about for the last I don’t know how many years; certainly the life of this government and the government before.

Mr. Speaker, we are working with industry, and, as I say, with all industry, not just the pipeline, but everybody to create that certainty. We’ve talked about it I don’t know how many different occasions with all the Members. This doesn’t come as any surprise. But we believe in a good fiscal environment. We also have to, as I said earlier, Mr. Speaker, keep these issues separate. We’re not going to use somebody as a pawn to achieve something else. Our negotiations on resource revenue sharing are with the federal government, not with Imperial.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say, I am really heartened by the commitment that the Prime Minister-designate has made toward a devolution of those responsibilities to us and the fact that he has said that we should be the primary beneficiaries of the resource revenues, and he has also said that he believes in resolving that whole fiscal imbalance issue right across the country. But, Mr. Speaker, those are things that we’re working on at the same time here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 313-15(4): GNWT’s ‘Letter Of Comfort’ To Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Producers

Yes, going to be wearing out lots of running shoes here, Mr. Speaker. Is it now official GNWT policy to give letters of comfort and certainty to all resource related projects that might come up in the future before having to talk with his colleagues on the other side here? Is this going to be the way we will continue now to develop letters of comfort, letters of certainty?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 313-15(4): GNWT’s ‘Letter Of Comfort’ To Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Producers

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of the principles in the letter, those are long understood and agreed to. Mr. Speaker, I have to again remind the Member to check back in his notes. He will find that the Minister of Finance met with the committee before the letter went out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 313-15(4): GNWT’s ‘Letter Of Comfort’ To Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Producers

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?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 313-15(4): GNWT’s ‘Letter Of Comfort’ To Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Producers

Mr. Speaker, again I have to remind the Member that the Aboriginal Summit has been in existence for years. There are ongoing discussions with them on resource revenue sharing. There are bilateral discussions between them and us. There are trilateral discussions between them, us and the federal government. They are involved. They know our positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.