Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I am hearing is the Finance Minister conceding on most of these tax initiatives. I am really curious about why he is wasting everyone’s time. It seems quite clear on that side of the House that they don’t even think all of these are going to be taken seriously by them, let alone the public. So why didn’t the Finance Minister put the test to committee, one by one on these suggestions, and ask if committee would support these or not? Can I get that answer? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There were briefings provided to committee about the potential options on May 27. I quote from Hansard, page 613, a report from the Standing Committee on Government Operations.
“Committee members found that in order to create long-term financial stability for the Northwest Territories, the governments should not only look at reducing costs but also explore options for revenue increases…. The creation of a heritage trust fund…. The committee also encouraged the government to look into alternative means to generate revenue, like taxation of minerals and resources and the introduction of a carbon tax, or changes to the fuel tax administration. The committee hopes that alternatives and new initiatives for revenue generation will be presented during the next business planning cycle.”
Mr. Speaker, we have taken that advice very clearly. I indicated in my Minister’s statement today that we had made adjustments. We are doing the work to come to committee, and we appreciate the feedback from the Members.
I would also suggest to the House that if we just arbitrarily came forward and said we are doing this, that or the other thing, then we would be pilloried for not consulting appropriately and making these decisions without giving the people, or possibly the Members, the freedom to chose from an amount of taxes that are available for consideration.
It’s nice to see, for a change, that the other side of the House is listening to our side of the House, but I don’t seem to remember seeing a fuel tax. I remember a sales tax in that list.
Mr. Speaker, I think I heard from the Finance Minister’s little special speech there, which he had seemingly prepared, that he recited carbon tax and resource tax. Why aren’t you putting your focus into those ones that we suggested as opposed to some of these red herrings, such as sales tax? You’re really wasting our time, your time and the public’s time. Why didn’t he do that?
First it was Dijon mustard; now it’s red herring. I don’t even particularly care for fish.
However, clearly, Mr. Speaker, we have left everything on the table. As we look at concluding the consultation process, we will look at all the options that are there. I laid out yesterday some very significant potential revenue generators in terms of the territorial nominee program for immigration that we believe could bring in as many as 150 new Northerners a year plus their families. I also suggested and laid out the option to look at fully using the SEAs, socio-economic agreements, which are bilateral agreements with the mines, where we could bring, as the Member for Kam Lake has raised in this House, hundreds of those current fly in/fly out workers who could actually take up residence in the North. We are going to look at the whole range of options.
Once again, I do appreciate the Member’s feedback. I would ask him to bear with us through the consultation process, but clearly their feedback is critical as well. Thank you.
Speaking on that line, has he heard anyone out there say that they wanted a sales tax? Because if we open that door — whether it’s 1 per cent, 8 per cent, whatever per cent — we’ll never shut it. Has he heard anyone glowingly say that this was a good idea? Where did this crazy idea of a sales tax come from?
What I have heard people across the land say is that there is a level of service the government provides that they have come to expect and count on, that we have huge needs out there that we need resources to meet. We are taking the steps on the revenue side, but we’re also looking to control our expenditures. Nobody necessarily likes taxes, but we have to weigh whatever taxes are going to be there against the value that they bring for the common good in terms of the programs and services for the people of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know what? A lot of people want to know how much this is going to cost when they find out what a waste of time has been conceded by Cabinet. I mean, you could have spent a lot of time…. Just an extra meeting with Regular Members to say that these are the good ideas you should maybe take to the public. We’re not saying that it has to be these ideas, but we’re saying these are the ones that I’m sure they’ll be willing to listen to.
So how much is this little fiasco going to cost the general public to just hear no, no, no? Thank you.
I don’t agree with the label of “fiasco.” The Member himself has asked in this House, if I can quote from page 1194 of Hansard, June 12, where he asked the Finance Minister of the day:
“What is he doing on revenue options? What is he doing to put new revenue options on the table for the Territories to go forward so we can make up for these ups and downs in our revenue stream?”
He further goes on to say:
“The issue really is: when are we going to deal with this issue? The fact is that there are no revenue generating initiatives in this. We’ve heard: We’re going to think about it. We plan to do it. We hope we’ll get $10 million in our revenue stream. But people are asking when. From my point of view, I need to know when we’re going to do this. Mr. Speaker, will the Finance Minister tell us today when we will see this discussion paper?”
Mr. Speaker, we have worked hard and long over the course of the summer to comply with the very specific request from the Member for Yellowknife Centre. I would hope that he would be a tad more appreciative of the work that has gone in, approach it in a constructive manner and offer us his best advice during this process.
Applause.
Oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
