Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In its recent insightful submission on revenue options to the government, the non-government organization Alternatives North notes that the revenue options discussion paper does not mention the role that services and programs can play in attracting and holding people in our communities.
Coincidentally, this agrees strongly with the tone of the message I received at my Weledeh constituency meeting last week. This message was that while many people are noticing the rising cost of living, they also are still appreciating the incredible characteristics of our jurisdiction that make this a great place to live and raise our families.
In a nutshell, Mr. Speaker, people raved about the close community they enjoy; about the extremely high standard of education and educational opportunities they have; about the national-level standard of sports training, competition and accolades our youth and athletes enjoy; about the incredible regional, national and international travel opportunities our people experience, and I could go on.
We need to raise the profile on these perspectives and learn from the lessons they reflect. Quality of life is as important, perhaps even more important, than quantity. This does not deny the need to raise revenue, however. Many communities in the NWT do not enjoy the same quality of living as we do here in Yellowknife, and closing that gap is an area this government needs to focus on.
Better and increased programs and services should be a goal that goes hand in hand with reducing the cost of living for Northerners. But to achieve these roles we cannot place the fiscal burden of those programs and services directly on the backs of our citizens. Many people cannot afford increased taxes, and nobody wants to see a sales tax. Taxes such as these place a burden on peoples’ incomes, which are stretched thin enough as it is.
Some potentially fruitful options we should pursue are focused mechanisms to tax migrant workers or companies who hire them and those with very high incomes and resource taxes on non-renewable resource development and industries.
Finally, we need to provide the long term security and foresight that instills in our residents confidence for the long term by instituting a heritage fund and a taxation and royalty regime that ensures we gain fair and full benefits from our non-renewable resource development.
Let’s listen to our people, embed our decisions within the full context of today’s challenges and move progressively in ways that diversify our economy and ensure a good quality of life and secure future for everyone.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
