Thank you, Mr. Chair. I notice that we are losing two positions in this area. Are these areas in management and recruitment services or another section of the budget? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Stewart.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. There were two positions that were reduced. They were involved in the devolution implementation. One is in the management and recruitment services and one is in strategic human resources.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the deputy minister for that answer. Could the Minister advise us if these two positions were vacant or if they were reduced through a package at the end of the day? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Stewart.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. The expectation was that they were going to sunset, but they are actually vacant at this time. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Anything further, committee? Seeing nothing, I will call this activity. Finance, human resources, operations expenditure summary, total activity, $19,577,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Moving on to activity three of five, liquor revolving fund, $63,000 activity. Comments or questions? Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The liquor revolving fund, once the legalization of marijuana becomes a reality in Canada, is the department looking at a model similar to this to regulate and tax cannabis production and consumption in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I do not think a determination or decision has been made on what department this might fall under within the GNWT. I suppose we would have that broader discussion when it actually does happen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that, but I would hope that we would adopt something similar to this because we have a great deal of expertise. So can the Minister commit to taking this on under the portfolio of Finance so we have some clarity on who is actually developing the regulations for cannabis in the Northwest Territories? It is coming sooner than we would like to think, for this government it seems, and we should be realizing this opportunity and being prepared for the change and not struggling to pass the buck. So if the Minister could commit to taking this on as a Finance priority? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Yes, the Member likes to throw language like that in there. He knows that this government does not pass the buck, and if there is an opportunity to take a lead on this we will do that because this would more than likely probably be the landing place for it, and I think we have already been doing some preliminary work towards this with the anticipation that this was coming down. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, and thank you to the Minister for that. I do appreciate that we are going to use our existing expertise to assist this new world order, as it would seem, and I know that it is still carries some degree of controversy, but it is something we need to get on with. So with that, I will leave it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. I see nothing further. I will call this activity: Finance, liquor revolving fund, operations expenditure summary, total activity, $63,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Moving on to activity four of six, management board secretariat. This is on pages 140 to 143, a $63,000 activity. Management board secretariat, pages 140 to 143. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I asked earlier about tax policies or tax changes. My question is more of a policy one, but it is related to this activity, and currently my understanding is that, if we were to change tax rates in the Northwest Territories, that needs to be done by legislative amendment to the Income Tax Act. Is that correct?
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and, Mr. Chair, the Member is correct. For the income tax, that is what would have to happen. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for the clarification. Is there a hard and fast reason for doing that rather than putting tax into regulations so we would have flexibility in adjusting tax rates to meet the needs of economic conditions? We will start there. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Stewart.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I tend to agree with the Member on this. This is part of the reason for the changes to the Child Tax Benefit that are in the Income Tax Act. We are moving some of that from the legislation to regulation, which will make it easier to increase rates into the future. You know, I do not want to call it a historical artifact, but when these pieces of legislation were set up they often had that, and I think the concept that the Member is talking about makes good sense to make it easier to adjust these as you go forward. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, and I do appreciate what Mr. Stewart is saying. I am familiar with the Income Tax Act amendments, and the numbers are moving out of legislation where they can be tweaked; but, you know, the other areas of tax are not moving in a similar direction, and I think my honourable friend the Member for Frame Lake has often raised the issue of creating a new tax bracket for the highest income earners. Those kinds of initiatives are somewhat inflexible using the current legislative process, and my fear is, if we wanted to move expediently on tax reform or tax improvements, we would have to go through the LP process, which can take a great deal of time. So how much time would it take to move all tax into regulation so we can have more flexibility to do that? Is that something the department has the capacity to do in the life of this government? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the department has the capacity to do the work. As for a timeline, I think we would have to have a look at it and see what it is exactly it encompasses, and then I think we will be in a better position to give a timeline as to how it would actually take to move from legislation to regulation. We have heard the Member, and we will go back and take a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
That is a great review. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Finally, the mandate commitment to lower taxes on small businesses, how is the department doing with that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we have heard the Member, and we have heard his concern. I have read his pamphlet, and it's not something that we are contemplating at this particular time. Maybe there will be opportunities in the future, but, as of right now, no, we are not contemplating that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
Thank you. Does the Minister believe that he will get around to it by the end of the term? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are developing a discussion paper. I know it is in the mandate that this is something that we have to have a look at by the end of the mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly, so the commitment is there, and we are developing a discussion paper. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to the discussion paper. Nothing further, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have three things I want to pursue here. Maybe I will start with the easiest. I guess I have been on record as raising this issue of the need to index our Northern Resident Tax Deduction. We have gotten an increase in the last federal budget, but I know the Minister had made a commitment to continue to pursue this issue of indexing it. I wonder if he could just give us a little bit of an update of where that work is at. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In my meeting with the federal Finance Minister, I did raise the concern of indexing it. We actually have not heard back from them yet, but I will make a commitment then to follow up on that because there are a number of questions we have for the federal Minister, and we have an FTP coming up. I think it's later on this year. I will try to make contact with them to see if there is any progress made on our request. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I think there would probably be I think I have raised this before greater strength in numbers, working with our colleagues in Yukon and Nunavut on this, as well. I am sure they share the same kind of concern, and I am sure we can work collectively, with them, to try to move that forward with the federal government. I see the Minister shaking his head, so I am not going to ask a question about it.
I did want to move on to the heritage fund on the next page. It's 142. I am glad to see that we continue to put some of our revenues in there. I just wonder whether there could be a separate page in the main that actually has a little bit more detail about the heritage fund. I don't even know how much is in the heritage fund right now, but maybe I will start with that. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
