Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Finance Minister and it gets back to my Member’s statement where I was talking about our Member of Parliament, Mr. Dennis Bevington, who this week is trumpeting his borrowing limit Bill C-530 to his counterparts in Ottawa in the House of Commons. It got me to thinking, Mr. Speaker -- and the rest of the residents here in the Northwest Territories are giving this a lot of thought today as well -- does this Cabinet endorse Bill C-530 in its current form? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Michael Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I read the news clips with interest this morning and the comments from the Member of Parliament as he looks to the future in the Northwest Territories as a maturing political jurisdiction. On the other hand, I noticed the comment from the Member for Kam Lake that said this government is not ready, we’re not old enough, we’re not mature enough, we’re not wise enough to handle any more money, let’s throw out an anchor and let’s throw this whole process down, which is an unfortunate comment.
The Member of Parliament is elected by the people of the Northwest Territories in a general election. He doesn’t answer to this Assembly, he answers to the people of the Northwest Territories. He has tools at his disposal to advance causes that he sees as important to the development of the Northwest Territories, some that we share in common with him. The Member of Parliament had the good grace to contact us, to consult with us, to indicate to us what he was doing, ask for our feedback and our thoughts, which we gave him. But it should be very clear here in this House, he doesn’t answer to us, we don’t answer to him, and he’s doing what he thinks is necessary as a Member of Parliament. We have the common goal in mind to advance the interests of the Northwest Territories to be treated as a mature, evolving political jurisdiction and I hope that all Members would be supportive of that. We’re engaged in a process with the federal government in terms of reviewing our borrowing limits that we’re committed to, and we’ve indicated that to the Member. Thank you.
Yes, that’s right. I remember Parliament does answer to the people of the Northwest Territories. This Minister and this Cabinet answer to us, we represent the people here in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I support moving forward with the AIP; I’ve said that unequivocally. I support that. What I don’t support is us seeking more ways to spend money. Mr. Speaker, I’ve gone on record as saying this before and I’ll say it again for the Minister: I’m not sure exactly what it costs to service a debt of around $500 million in a Territory of 42,000 people, but my estimate, Mr. Speaker, is around $35 million to $40 million. If you double that, almost double that to over $900 million, that’s going to take money away from programs and services that we provide to the people of the Northwest Territories.
I’d like to ask the Finance Minister if his department has done any analysis on what having a debt in the neighbourhood of $900 million would do to the finances of this Territory. Thank you.
We’ve informed Members of what’s happening with the borrowing limit, that there’s a review underway with federal Finance and the three territories to review the borrowing limits that are currently in place, which are different between the three territories. It’s a common issue for the three territories. Our borrowing limit is currently $575 million. About $450 million of that is self-liquidating, because it’s being paid down through the Power Corp and the Housing Corporation, and the Deh Cho Bridge will be generating its own revenues. We have to recognize that. We’re looking for a review that recognizes that we have those extenuating circumstances.
We have not spent any time, nor do we intend to, to analyze the content of the Member of Parliament’s bill. We’ve indicated to him that while we appreciate what he is trying to achieve in advancing the cause of the North, we as a government have already started a process with the federal government and the other two territories that we are fully engaged in and intend to see to completion. Thank you.
If Bill C-530 does pass, within two months that would increase the borrowing limit of the Government of the Northwest Territories to somewhere in the neighbourhood of $900 million and if the Minister of Finance hasn’t done the work, the analysis of what our spending would get us, the $900 million, what that would do to our finances going forward, then again, I think we’re missing something here. I’d like to ask the Minister if he could share with the Members of this House any official correspondence he’s had with the Member of Parliament on Bill C-530.
I’m not a federal parliamentary expert but my understanding of the Private Member’s Bill process is that this process will take years. It will take until sometime in the new year to even get back before the House for further discussion before there’s even any decision made.
I can indicate to this House that there was correspondence from the Premier to the Member of Parliament on October 20th confirming what I’ve stated to this House, that we thank them for contacting us, but indicating that we have a process that we are engaged in with the federal government and the other territories to review our borrowing limits and that we will fully engage in that process to its conclusion.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. I guess for me the bottom line is whether or not -- and I said this earlier -- we’ve never discussed in any meeting I’ve been in during the seven years that I’ve been here, a percentage on our expenditures as a borrowing limit. It is the first I’ve heard of it and I’d like to again ask the Minister if this Cabinet endorses 70 percent of our expenditures as a borrowing limit for this government.
Let me state once again for the Member and the general public, that we have indicated to the Member of Parliament for the Western Arctic that it’s his right to pursue a Private Member’s Bill. He has our interests in mind and in his opinion he’s using the processes he has. But we have made it clear that we have embarked upon a process with the federal Finance department and the other two territories to review our borrowing limit. That’s the process we’re engaged in. That’s the process we are committed to. That’s what we are paying attention to. That’s where we see the issues with our concern of the borrowing limit being addressed and it’s the one we’re fully engaged in.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
