Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Every year a large amount of money gets thrown on the proverbial table of the Legislative Assembly. For our approximately 42,000 residents, $1.2 billion in round numbers goes on the table. Departments and deputies and their Ministers elected to oversee them put together business plans which form the basis of our annual budget. Our territory is diverse in so many ways, and although our resources are great, so are the many needs of our regions, communities and residents.
It’s our job as the stewards of the public purse to spend our resources in the public interest in the fairest, most effective and most prudent way possible. That is what is expected of us, and nothing less. We have the power and, more importantly, the responsibility to put in place checks and balances that ensure transparency and accountability in the way that we disburse and distribute our financial resources.
There is no mechanism outside of this Assembly that will hold to account that process, other than the court of public opinion and the confidence that puts us here in the first place. The budget is the people’s; they merely entrust us with its management to match it to the needs of those same people to the best of our collective ability. Let’s remind ourselves often that with the power that comes with being at the table at which $1.2 billion is laid down every year comes an ominous obligation to fairness and accountability. That requires balancing the interests of many, as I said. We know this is a political environment where people are passionate about their constituencies and those needs, myself amongst them.
To that end, Mr. Speaker, and to the issue of fairness, I would like to thank my colleagues on this side of the House who on Monday voted unanimously in support of moving forward the funding required for the renovation of Diamond Jenness Secondary School in my riding. I do appreciate their support and their recognition of this being the fair and right thing to do. I want to assure Members on this side of the House and the other side that I will continue to support them in any way I can to realize the aspirations of their constituencies as I listen to their issues.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
