It is my honour today to begin this session of the 16th Legislative Assembly with a clear discussion about where our Territory is heading, the opportunities and challenges we will face and the actions we must take.
As Members of this Assembly we have identified six key goals that are crucial for the N.W.T.’s future:
A strong and independent North, where Northerners make their own decisions and chart their own course;
An environment that sustains Northerners today and in the future;
Healthy and well-educated people with bright futures and the skills they need to benefit from all the opportunities our Territory will provide;
A diversified economy providing jobs, business opportunities and prosperity for families and communities;
Sustainable, vibrant and safe communities where people can build their futures; and
An effective and efficient government that sets the right priorities and gets the job done.
Put those six goals together, and we are describing the N.W.T. as a place for all Northerners: a compassionate North, where people live with dignity and participate fully in their Territory and their communities; a North where all residents enjoy safety, security and an opportunity to realize their dreams; a place where Northerners can reach their full potential, not limited by social conditions or where they live but able to benefit fully from all the opportunities our Territory provides. able to find and keep a job, take advantage of education opportunities, stay healthy and afford to live in their communities.
We want to build a unified, strong and independent Territory — a Territory that is the master of its own destiny, a Territory recognized across Canada as a unique and contributing member of Canada’s federation.
Making Difficult Choices
The vision we have for the Northwest Territories is not just an elusive dream. It can become our reality and the reality for future generations of Northerners. The six goals we have set can be achieved, but it will take discipline and focus. It will take deliberate actions and tough choices to keep us on track.
Let me make one point abundantly clear. If we are to achieve what Members of the 16th Assembly have set as our vision, as a government, we cannot continue to do business in the same old way. Some people may be disappointed, but we cannot continue to spend our children’s future.
I have heard concerns about how we can be faced with a situation that requires refocusing our spending. It is true: surpluses were forecast for the last several years. But that has only been possible with extra one-time funds received from the federal government.
For the last several years our spending has increased twice as fast as our revenues. Our Formula Financing Agreement with Canada will not generate sudden pockets of tens of millions of dollars to keep us out of trouble. And trouble is what we would have later in this government — potentially over $500 million in debt if we did not act now. I will provide details of our current and future fiscal situation in a statement to this Assembly tomorrow.
This session we will present an interim budget that will allow us the time to deliberately and methodically set a clear course correction to our spending patterns. As we begin to shift our spending to areas that are most vital to the six goals we have set for our Territory, we will reduce our overall spending so we avoid the risk of crippling deficits in years to come.
We accept that responsibility because, Mr. Speaker, leadership is not about taking the easy course. Leadership is not just about saying yes to the countless good ideas that come our way. Leadership is about making the right choices to keep our eyes fixed on a prize. And that prize is a better future for our children, our communities and our Territory.
In many ways the work we are doing now is like our elders planning for a hunting trip. We have to pack wisely for the journey. We can load down our packs with everything we’d want to have with us, but the result would be a load that’s too heavy to haul, that weighs us down and slows our journey. Choosing what not to take is difficult and may involve some compromises and hardships. But in the end it allows us to make the journey and reach our destination.
We’re at that same point today. We have loaded too much into our government’s pack, more than we can afford to haul. Keeping this heavy load is simply not an option. Instead, we need to choose wisely, select the things we must really do that will produce the results and allow us to continue on this journey and achieve the vision we have set.
Setting Priorities
In the past few months members of cabinet have identified a set of five initiatives based on caucus priorities that will be the focus of our actions in the coming months.
The first is building our future. That starts with better programming for our children and youth. It means promoting healthy choices and tackling addictions that have stolen lives from far too many people in the North. It means taking action on family violence, supporting families and continuing to work on changing attitudes towards violence and the terrible toll it takes on them. It means looking after seniors and supporting those who volunteer their time and energy to help others. It means making sure our families and communities are safe by enhancing police services, especially in small communities.
Taken together, these actions will tackle the social problems that affect far too many people in communities across the Northwest Territories, make sure our children and youth get the strong beginning they need, and improve the overall health of our residents and keep our people safe.
The second initiative is to reduce the cost of living. The stark reality is that the cost of living in the Northwest Territories is too high. Most costs make it difficult for many families to pay their basic bills. They stand in the way of achieving a better quality of life. They stand in the way of people getting jobs and supporting their families. And those same high costs affect our ability to grow and diversify our economy and attract new businesses and investment.
Two important areas that can help reduce the cost of living are improved transportation infrastructure between communities and alternative energy solutions, like natural gas and hydroelectric power. We need to pursue the necessary partnerships and funding to finally make the dream of a Mackenzie Valley Highway and expanded hydroelectric power use a reality.
The third initiative includes managing this land. Northerners have a deep attachment to our land, and while leaders in countries around the world are just starting to wake up to the impact of climate change, we have a front-row seat to witness its dramatic impacts. Warmer winters significantly decrease the length of the ice-road season, making it more difficult and costly to resupply communities and industry. Ice roads are becoming more expensive to build and harder to maintain. Operating seasons are decreasing to the point that some roads may not be viable in the future. Melting permafrost is weakening and shifting the foundation of our roads and buildings. Hunters can no longer rely on weather conditions and an abundance of animals to feed their families and fill their traps.
It’s crucial that we consider a comprehensive approach to find the right balance between development and protection of our existing landscapes, forests and water resources, in order to deal with the cumulative effects of climate change on our air, land and water; to collect the necessary data to monitor impacts on our environment; and to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The key part of this initiative will involve steps to develop a framework around land use in the N.W.T. We will continue our work on land, resource and self-government agreements, including a devolution agreement with the federal government.
Fourth, Mr. Speaker, steps will be taken to maximize opportunities in the N.W.T. There are days when I think about the challenges our elders face — elders like Sam Raddi of Tuktoyaktuk, who had a vision of pulling the aboriginal people of the Beaufort together to form COPE, the Committee for Original Peoples’ Entitlement, which eventually led to the settling of land claims in that region; elders like Agnes Semmler of Inuvik, who spoke for and challenged her own people to be better examples; elders like former Grand Chief Joe Rabesca, who had the vision and foresight to conclude the first combined land claim and self-government agreement in our Territory.
Like them we have to see through the challenges before us and recognize the opportunities in these challenges — opportunities that are no longer vague promises of what the future could bring but real developments that are right on our doorstep.
It’s time to open the door to new developments that contribute to the North, to our communities and to the future of our children. It’s time to continue improving the quality of education and training so that the best jobs don’t go to people who fly in and fly out each week, but to our own people. It’s time to bring the entrepreneurial spirit of business people in smaller communities together with investors and developers who can provide the advice and support they need to get started. It’s time to promote the N.W.T. as a great place to live, work, invest in, and visit.
Mr. Speaker, we can do all of this with the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. While we spend over $1 billion a year as a government, it would be difficult to match the opportunities from the pipeline and all related activities it will bring.
It’s time to see the promise of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline become a reality. We can do this right. We can proceed in a way that protects our environment. We can proceed in a way that builds and sustains strong communities. We can proceed in a way that the people who benefit the most are right here in the Northwest Territories. But we must proceed. After years of discussions and delays, we must take the next step to help this become a reality.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, the actions of the 16th Assembly will fundamentally refocus all aspects of government, from how we set priorities to how we deliver services and how we make sure we’re getting the best value for every dollar we spend.
One of the priorities that emerged from our discussions with caucus was the need to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiencies, providing more focus on clients in the services we provide, and improving our efforts to plan, coordinate and communicate actions among government departments. We’ll follow through on that direction by reviewing the programs we currently deliver, our approach to infrastructure, our efforts to attract and retain the most capable people to our public service, and innovative ways of delivering essential services, especially in smaller communities.
Mr. Speaker, these five initiatives — building our future, reducing the cost of living, managing the land, maximizing opportunity and refocusing government — provide their own map for our journey to come. The journey will have its peaks and valleys, its good days and its difficult ones, but the destination will be worth it: a destination where our children, and their children to come, can look forward with hope and confidence to a better future.
As Members of this Assembly, we must not waver from this roadmap. We must not lose our way or get distracted by the issues of the day. The course is clear, and we must see it through to the end.
Looking South
Mr. Speaker, I have laid out the approach developed by our cabinet, with input from all members of caucus. More details of the initial actions to be taken will be outlined later this spring.
As Premier, my role is to make sure that we keep our focus, keep our eyes on the vision we want for our Territory, and work with all Members of this Assembly and all Northerners to make sure the work gets done. But as Premier, I also intend to play a strong role on the national stage, to set our own course and be masters of our own destiny. We must continue to push our federal partners and bring people across Canada onto our side of the issues that are vital to our future.
In recent months our hopes have been lifted by Prime Minister Harper’s focus on the North and his commitment to strengthen Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. We were inspired by the last throne speech, when the Governor General said: “Canadians see in our North an expression of our deepest aspirations, our sense of exploration, the beauty and bounty of our land, and our limitless potential.”
My job as Premier is to make sure those words are not forgotten in the midst of countless other pressures for action, to make sure that the promise of an integrated Northern strategy is realized, and to make sure that Northern strategy responds to the issues that are critical to our Territory’s future.
In order for me to do this, as Premier, my discussions with the Prime Minister and my colleagues across Canada will focus on four priorities:
Making real progress on the Mackenzie Valley pipeline;
Achieving the promise of a devolution agreement — but not just any agreement: an agreement that’s right for the Northwest Territories and lays the foundation for future self-sufficiency;
Getting the right partners on board so we can lay out a plan and move forward with infrastructure projects of national significance, like the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the further development of our world-class hydroelectric resources at the Taltson and Bear Rivers; and
Telling the story of our environment, so we can not only protect our own environment here in the N.W.T. but awaken the rest of Canada and the world to the fact that their actions affect us. They affect our communities, our families, our way of life and everything across our Territory.
Concluding Comments
Mr. Speaker, the vision is clear. The priorities have been set, and the difficult work has begun.
Like the elders who have walked this land before us, we believe our work puts us on the right path to success. We’ve worked together to identify issues and set priorities. We’ve shared our hopes and dreams for the N.W.T., and we have agreed that this is the course we must follow.
There comes a time in the history of our people, our government and our Territory when decisions must be made. Those decisions will make us better than we are today. Instead of maintaining the status quo, those decisions will build a stronger foundation for a healthier future — a more sustainable future — for our Territory, and for a day when our Territory will take its place as one of the undisputed leaders in Canada.
My cabinet colleagues and I are ready for the journey. We are ready to build a stronger foundation, and we are confident the result will be an even better future for our children and grandchildren.
Quanami, mahsi.
I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Minister’s Statement 1-16(2) be moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration.
Motion carried.
