From everything that's been said and what we're hearing in the media, I'd just like to ask the Premier: it seems like we're focussing on trying to reduce our costs, but is there any way we're trying to increase our revenues by looking at areas such as taxation?
We had a debate in the 13th Assembly on developing such a thing as a resource tax, and I believe if we'd put the tax in place then, we probably wouldn't have the financial problems we're facing today. With the reductions that we're looking at now, we're looking at the possibility of future generations and ensuring that we're able to sustain programs and services for future years.
I'd like to ask the Premier if he has considered looking at the options by way of tax revenues as a means of being able to offset some of this debt by bringing in new revenues by taxation.
The appetite for revenue for expenditure purposes is almost unquenchable by this government. We've just looked at — and we can show examples from past governments — a corporate tax adjustment of $50 million that got swallowed up by the system. The problem is, those are short-term, so that is something we have to look at.
The Member has talked about “sustainable.” As a government we have to be able to provide a sustainable level of service to the people across the Territories, so that is one of the exercises we're going through.
The other side of it is to ensure that we have revenues enough to keep the programs going. We are looking at revenue options. We’re looking at existing revenue options as well as looking at those that would require new acts that would have to be approved by this Assembly. So we are looking at the options that are available to us.
Mr. Speaker, I believe we do have to take a close look at this. If you look at the profits of these mega-companies such as Exxon Mobil, which announced a $40 billion profit, and you look at the diamond companies, which are making billions of dollars of profits a year, they’re taking diamonds and oil and gas out of the Northwest Territories but not leaving anything behind to the real residents who should be benefitting from those resources.
I think, as a government, we have to seriously take these industries up on this matter. I know, Mr. Speaker, during the argument for the pipeline, we had to reach some concessions to not raise royalties, to not raise taxes for the pipeline from Imperial Oil — which is a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil and which made $40 billion.
I’d just like to ask the Premier if he’d like the government to seriously look at this alternative. Bring it back as an option that we can look at to maybe consider a way of increasing our resource base for revenues by looking at the resource sector, which has the ability to act right now.
I believe I said that as a government, we are looking at our tax options — those that we have on the books as well as those that would require a legislative initiative if brought back to this Assembly.
As we know from past practice, when governments make adjustments, even adjustments with existing legislation, it can have a lag time of at least a year to two years before you actually start to see the net results of any change — in some cases, sooner.
For example, one of the avenues my past government practised was to raise the corporate tax. It didn’t take very long for corporations — and even our aboriginal corporations — to look at their net impact and decide that they’ll put their money in other areas outside of our Territory, which has almost an immediate impact on lost revenue in the Territories. So we have to work out that balance.
But yes, as I stated, we’re looking at new initiatives to bring this back to this table for input.
So, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Premier if maybe he could bring forward the legislation that was drafted, I believe, in the 13th Assembly. I don’t recall the tax, but there was legislation put forth, developed, that was ready to come forward — by way of looking at this alternative in the 13th Assembly.
So I’d like to ask the Premier: would you consider bringing that back to the table and allowing the Members of this House to take a look at that as an option?
Mr. Speaker, as we develop our overall plan for the Government of the Northwest Territories, we’ll need to, as I’ve committed, go back to the Members with our options for the savings we need, the re-profiling that we want to do, the reinvesting we want to do in priority areas as well as some of our capital in our communities and the revenue options that we have identified. That’s all got to come back to Members. And we’ll share that as we put our plan together. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I think as a legacy of this Legislature and of the Premier, we can even name it the “Roland Tax Bill.”
Laughter.
I didn’t hear a question there.
