Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to speak about the budget process. Last year at this time, I was very discouraged about the budget process mainly because it was already set. This year I’m very happy about the process that we’ve undergone over the last six weeks. A lot of progress has been made in the Northwest Territories. I’d like to thank my colleagues here for their support on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway, also the initialing of the Devolution Agreement, Mr. Speaker.
This government is slowly checking off the priorities that we have set as the 17th Legislative Assembly and I’d like to thank everybody for working together. We do have a long way to go, but if we keep this up, we’ll make it through the priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What a session, and it’s not over yet. Our second budget, devolution, big infrastructure bucks, Boundaries Commission… It’s kept us busy and consumed our energy and attention. As we reach the pause button and time permits, it may be time to sit back and consider things in a bit more depth.
It’s two out of two. Regular MLAs, through considerable solidarity and belief in priorities, modified the proposed budget once again. True, the modification is slight at half a percent of the budget, but as we all know, the dollars actually available for new initiatives are modest. What to make of this? Is this system working? Again, for context, Regular MLAs supported 99.5 percent of the budget. Debates were extensive, there was much back and forth, decisions were made. This sounds to me like a reasonable and responsible compromise and a good basis to go forward on.
Due to the good work of our Premier and his very capable negotiating team, and that of the 16th, we now embark on the heavy work of implementing devolution. Many still wonder if the GNWT has the maturity for the task, but who wouldn’t want the power? As I’ve asked before, will we really bring the people along with us as we embark on this new focus? To some degree the response to the latter question will answer the first. If we have the confidence and maturity to do meaningful consultation and engagement on the Devolution Agreement and a plan for its implementation, things bode well.
The Inuvik-Tuk highway attracted vigorous debate, and decisions were made that will influence the availability of infrastructure dollars for priority projects for years to come. Regardless of positions, everyone had in mind the best outcome for the people of the region and of the Northwest Territories. Time will tell the wisdom we had.
The Boundaries Commission ends its mandate soon. Their critical work in upholding the principles of democracy will only be exceeded by this Assembly when we discuss their report.
With the super-storm of high oil prices, climate changes, and a permanently depressed global economy related to the first two factors, we, as every jurisdiction, must adapt to new realities. Doing the same thing harder will no longer serve. Our stable population, our high economic activity, our hugely disparate incomes provide both opportunity and challenge. As we move forward I will be looking for signs that I can be optimistic in my expectations.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has indeed been an amazing six weeks here in the House and in the Legislature. I am very proud and glad to say in the House today that what we’ve done and the decisions that we’ve made over the past six weeks, and all the discussions that we’ve had, we are going to be changing lives within the next fiscal year. We are going to be changing lives for the better for residents of the Northwest Territories and in years to come.
In the six weeks that we’ve been here, there have been a lot of emotions, a lot of debates, and what residents of the Northwest Territories don’t see is everything that happens sometimes right from 7:30 in the morning until late at night, and some meetings that go on beyond the rise of the House.
When we did start this session off and we had the opening budget address, Members on this side of the House were very happy to see that we did have a footprint in that budget address in terms of the deliberations that we’ve had. I have to say that even though we like to call it our footprint, and over the last six weeks and all the discussions that we had, I’d like to call it our footprints; committee members and Cabinet working together for the betterment of the residents of the Northwest Territories. And this I was very happy to see. In the 16 months that I’ve been here, the frustrations that I had in my first few months sitting in this House and seeing that we can actually make things work, change some policies, legislation, and the way we do business, and that we’re actually listening to people.
I remember last year when we finished up here, I thanked all the staff for all of their hard work. It is amazing the hard work that goes on in this building when we’re in session. But there are a lot of other people that we have to thank. We have to thank the families that sacrifice for us to be here and support us while we are here. But we also have to thank our residents, the front-line workers, the nongovernment organizations, the volunteers that sometimes lobby outside this building, that send us e-mails, that continually contact us and ask us to bring things forward into this House. The people that see the groundwork and see the actual work, that do the work that we are making decisions on. We listen to them and we want to let them know that for the next two and a half years, we’re going to continue to listen to them and we’re going to slowly make those changes so that the next budget round we’re going to have more things to offer and more great decisions that are made. I thank all my colleagues here in the House today, and the staff.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
