Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are for the Minister of ITI and are in regard to my Member’s statement that I made earlier.
I’ve written three letters of support for three different contracts that were given out in the Inuvik region, and all three of them were awarded to southern contractors or even a contractor that has a northern address but lives in the south.
I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI if he would commit to doing a comprehensive review of the Business Incentive Policy that we currently have and base it on the fact of contracts that were awarded to southern companies in the past and how we can fix that. Would the Minister commit to doing a comprehensive review of the BIP policy so that our northern contractors are able to win these contracts that we’re looking at rewarding?
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the questions. Certainly, MLA Moses is not the first Member to stand up here and ask Ministers of this government whether or not we should be reviewing the Business Incentive Policy. That’s happened a number of times over the 10 years I’ve been here.
Certainly, if the Regular Members feel strongly enough about the Business Incentive Policy and want us to review it again, that is something that we can work through the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure to see something like that happen. Certainly, from our standpoint at ITI, the policy is in our bailiwick. It’s our responsibility, but how it gets implemented is up to the various departments when dealing with that policy and how it’s implemented and decisions made, they’re made by the various departments across government.
I’m glad that the Minister had mentioned that it is up to the various departments, because I have written letters to three different departments, and it feels that my letters of support do fall on deaf ears. The appropriate Ministers need to be held accountable and also work with the members in the small communities that need this work, especially in Inuvik where our local businesses are losing contracts, and my letters of support, I feel, aren’t being looked at legitimately.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he would create, possibly reviewing this BIP policy, a policy for affirmative action, like we do within our Human Resources Department for northern businesses, an affirmative action policy that looks at northern businesses first before they look and review any other southern contractors that want to do business up here.
I believe the policy does protect northern businesses. That’s what it’s intended for. Unfortunately, again, there are anomalies; there are situations where things happen. Again, if we want to get into a review to strengthen the Business Incentive Policy, that’s something that I want to work with the Members on the other side to see that, so they have some comfort that the policy is there to do what it is intended to do, and that is protect northern business.
We have what is called a Senior Management Preference Committee which oversees the policy and does review matters that come up that are significant. The matters that the Member raises here in the House today, I certainly will follow up with that committee, through my deputy minister, to see how the issues the Member has brought to this House have been dealt with through that senior management committee. We will get some answers for the Member. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I do believe that Members on this side of the House would welcome that review of the Business Incentive Policy, not only Members of this House but the northern business sector. Sit down with them and listen to what their concerns are, because they’re the ones losing out on the contracts.
I would also like to ask the Minister if he would take the review of all the Business Incentive Policy, the list of all northern businesses that are listed under that policy, and do a review of how many of those businesses actually have property and actually live in the Northwest Territories, and not just have a mailing address or a property that’s not even being used, giving these contracts to these businesses that live elsewhere but take money out of the Northwest Territories and don’t contribute anything back into the economy. I’d like to see if the Minister would commit to doing a review of those companies and updating it so that our northern contractors actually do win these contracts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, this has been an issue that has been brought up before. It’s a serious issue and one that we take seriously. Certainly, I mentioned earlier that we want to work with Members through the Standing Committee on Economic Infrastructure if there is a need to go back and look at all the businesses that are in this Business Incentive Policy and look at areas where we can strengthen this policy.
I tend to agree with the Member; we need to ensure that economic benefits stay here in the Northwest Territories. I know he mentioned a couple of projects, the Inuvik-Tuk highway being one. We need to ensure, wherever possible, that the economic benefits of a project like that and other economic opportunities here in the NWT stay with businesses and residents here in the Northwest Territories. That’s something that, as Minister, I want to see happen. However we can arrive at that is what we should be trying to achieve. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the Minister recognizes that we have two big projects coming up in Inuvik, the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link and the Inuvik-Tuk highway. I really don’t want to see our local and northern businesses losing out on these contracts. That’s why I need this review sooner than later, because we want to make sure that they get those contracts.
Would the Minister also look – in my previous question about southern contractors – would he create a policy of possibly making these southern contractors do business in the North and have a property here for maybe six months plus a day – at least half the year – so we get some kind of economic benefit from these southern contractors? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we would have to take a look at the policy in its entirety. There are businesses on paper that would look like they are northern but they’re not really northern. I’ve had examples brought to my attention on that. If we’re going to take a look at the policy, we should do that. It should be wholesale. A lot of companies have been grandfathered into the Business Incentive Policy. If it’s the will of this House to look at the Business Incentive Policy to make it stronger, to strengthen it, to ensure that you have to have property here in the Northwest Territories, you have to employ people in the Northwest Territories, you have to pay your taxes here in the Northwest Territories, those are steps that this House can take. I certainly look forward to working with Members to arrive at a policy that we can accept. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
