Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 19th Assembly, I brought forward the austerity to the Finance Minister of the day, and they said they won't be dealing with austerity in the 19th Assembly but the can was kicked to the 20th Assembly. Here we are with $150 million a year. Over a fouryear period, that's $600 million.
My question to the Minister is can the Minister commit to working openly with MLAs, Indigenous governments, leaders of their respective communities, to implement the GNWT four priorities and to prevent unilateral budget cuts and layoffs that will harm relationship and trust between them and the GNWT government? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is certainly a role that I think every Member of the House would be taking seriously, and I certainly would do so as well within my capacity. As part of the budgeting process, Mr. Speaker, I instituted and intend to continue doing a budget dialogue process. It's an opportunity where I have specific meetings with Indigenous governments here or within the Northwest Territories. I also have a separate specific meeting with NWTAC, the representation for the municipalities, then do public sessions and sessions with other stakeholders. These are going to be upcoming before building the 20242025 Main Estimates.
With respect to as well to employees, Mr. Speaker, we've had over 300 responses already. In fact, probably more now in the last few days to a portal set up for employees. I have myself begun to look through those responses personally. I've sent them to my colleagues. There are some pretty exceptional ideas on there. And we are going to be having a town hall discussion with our employees as well. So lots of opportunities to engage.
And, Mr. Speaker, I would think it goes without saying that the business planning process involves Members and committees quite intimately as well in terms of reviewing plans and discussing plans and giving feedback to departments. So that's a long answer. The short answer is yes. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. When the Minister refers to increasing revenue sources to help balance the budget, does that mean she's considering a new tax increase? If so, what kind of tax increase are on the table? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's not lost on anyone that the challenges in the last few years have put a lot of strain on households, on businesses, and there's little appetite or capacity arguably even for tax increases. But beyond that, Mr. Speaker, tax revenues are a pretty small slice of the revenues that we receive. The Government of Canada transfers in various forms; in particular TFF. That's our major source of revenue, up to 80 percent. So taxes are not right now what we're looking at. We're right now trying to figure out everywhere and every other option available to us. That could also be increases for fees for services, increases on fees that are charged on licenses. But, again, this is part of the discussion that we've kicked off and hope to continue to have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are many examples of public/private partnerships that have resulted in major cost overruns and delays. Will the department review the circumstances of the cost overruns to ensure future projects stay on time and on budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's also some pretty exceptional examples of public/private partnerships that came in on time and on budget not the least of which is the Tlicho AllSeason Road. That said, I do agree that there is certainly a need to ensure that all capital planning has a good news story at the end of the day no matter what the financing arrangement might be. There's been some changes in the last Assembly to the capital planning process to have more planning, to have more dollars in the planning so that the cost estimates that we have are of a greater certainty and that we have that certainty when we go out to actually put the dollars out. So thank you for the question. Again, I think it's important but there's a lot of work happening in that space already, and we do expect Members to hold us to account as we go forward on that one to make sure we're achieving it. Thank you
Final supplementary. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the 19th Assembly I came in as an MLA for halfway through my term in the twoyear period, and I couldn't really put any of my wishes onto the bus. The train already left the station. So, Mr. Speaker, I put forward a letter to the Premier outlining the priorities for my four communities. So my question would be to the Minister. I have shared a letter with the Minister that I sent to the Premier which laid out my priorities for my communities. Can the Minister commit to reviewing these priorities and considering them when working when work begins on the budget and focus on the four top priorities? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Well, Mr. Speaker, obviously setting the priorities of the Assembly is work that we've all collectively just done, and the next step is to ensure that there's a mandate to help achieve those priorities. Obviously, that's work that happens by all Members of Cabinet, including myself, and I believe will be work that involves back and forth to Members of the Assembly including the Member who's asking the question. So as that process is underway, I'm hopeful and confident that it can continue to be a dialogue and one that will see reflection of everyone that's here. Thank you.
Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
