Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seeing as it is budget address day, I would like to discuss some of the issues that were presented in the budget. I am looking forward to criticizing some of the issues there, but today I think it’s kind of a day where we like to see some of the benefits that are there.
We are seeing some revenue growth. It’s good to hear that the economy is recovering a little bit better. Also, I like to see that our government is investing money into prevention, into the infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. I think it’s great for the people of the Northwest Territories.
Obviously, from my community, we are strongly interested in the Midwifery Program. It is great to see that there are dollars going into that initiative and also the biomass initiatives that are out there. We have an opportunity in the community of Hay River in Aurora Pellets looking to develop in the region. We are obviously interested in all the biomass initiatives in the current budget.
For the general public, no new taxes. That’s great news for everybody.
From the community of Hay River, we are also interested in the 18 decentralized positions. I know Hay River is going to receive some of those positions, as well as the 11 new positions in the Sahtu. So it’s great to see some of the positions going out to the regions.
Also, the additional money into tourism, it’s good to see that there’s more money, more initiatives going into tourism. We think that’s a viable option in the South Slave as well.
Over the next couple of weeks, we will be critical of some of the things the government does. Can we do things better with our money? Are we investing in the right infrastructure? Is the federal government putting up the proper percentages?
I would just like to pass those comments on to the Minister of Finance and thank their team for all the hard work on the budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard to decide what to talk about on budget day, but I think I’ll follow the lead of my colleague for Hay River North and we’ll say nice things today. We’ve got six weeks to get into all the rest, right?
So it is a time of restraint and it is a time of kind of holding the line in our government, and in view of that, we still see some good things in there, and I will speak specifically about Hay River. As well, the Midwifery Program for Hay River, something long awaited and really looking forward to.
I look at the reintroduction of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program in the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, and I thank the Minister of Justice for hearing from us on that and reinstating that program. That not only means programs and services to people who are incarcerated, but it also creates some jobs in Hay River.
Now, there are 4,500 jobs in the public service and 18 of them are being decentralized out of Yellowknife. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is a start, and I hope it is just the start, because it’s more than what we’ve had in the past and I know that some of those are coming to Hay River. Unfortunately, we can’t give you all the details about that yet, but I do thank the Cabinet again for not just paying lip service to decentralization but for there actually being something in this budget, which is going to put actions to those words and we’re going to see some positions decentralized to other communities, including Hay River. So we’re really happy about that.
This government’s commitment to biomass is good news for Hay River too. It’s good news for the environment; it’s good news for the North. Certainly with the up and coming establishment of a pellet manufacturing plant very close to Hay River, which will economically benefit Hay River, everything this government does to switch from fossil fuels to biomass is something that will indirectly benefit Hay River as well. It will create that demand for this product in the North, which will now be produced in the North.
The $700,000 for pellet stoves in public housing units, long overdue. It should have been done a long time ago, but I think we should go one step further. I think we should offer pellet stoves to any person in the Northwest Territories for free from this government, as a tangible commitment to the fact that we are concerned about the cost of living and we support them. I don’t think we should make it all tied up in a big rebate program and make it difficult for people. Let’s just do it. It’s good for the environment, it’s good for the people and, hey, it will be good for Hay River because we’re going to sell you the pellets.
---Laughter
So I am pleased with the budget overall. I know it’s not everything we’d like it to be, but we also have to keep in mind that we are on the cusp of devolution, royalties, more jobs in the Northwest Territories, and I think that next year at this time we’ll see a very different looking budget. For this one we are holding the line, we’re trying to be responsible. It is somewhat of fiscal restraint, but we are on the verge of many exciting things.
I think somebody forgot to hit the timer on here because I’m getting way more than my time here today.
So, kudos to the Cabinet. Like I said, we’ll get into the detail and some of the things we’re not so happy about, perhaps, in the weeks ahead, but for today, it’s a day of celebration in the Northwest Territories, and thank you for all your hard work.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to use this opportunity to thank Minister Miltenberger for his fifth budget to lead the territory. Mr. Miltenberger brings forward a steady as she goes budget and that’s typically the way he runs the ship: pretty straightforward, not that fancy. When I hear a strategy about two years of belt tightening and then two years of spending, I liken it more like he’s going to be the Grinch for two years and then, hopefully, be Santa for two more years after that.
The primary concern I heard that I think resonates deeply amongst many Members, of course, is revenue growth is slow. An important strategy needs to be developed here on how we want to change the ship on this measure. We need more made-in-the-NWT philosophies, roll-outs, whether it’s manufacturing, whether it’s more innovation, or things that further build upon those ideas. We need more homegrown solutions to many of our revenue problems.
What I also saw lacking but not necessarily glaring, I’ll say that, is this committee on our side of the House that is, had great support for midwifery and I feel saddened that it didn’t meet the challenges we tried to put out to you.
Tourism, in the same vein, received significant support, if not buttressed by great enthusiasm from all Members where we wanted way more than what was given here today. The industry has been suffering for many, many years and it needs the further investment to help do the things it needs to do to get new money injected into our territorial economy. Oddly enough, that goes right back to one of my first statements, which is it’s highlighted that revenue growth is slow. How do we do that? We help foster, develop and build small businesses such as our tourism industry.
There were some interesting things highlighted in this budget. I want to thank him for that, although I wish there were more details. He talked about the medical travel costs. Forever that’s always been a target that we never know what we’re really dealing with, whether that budget is high or that budget is low. I do applaud him for highlighting it because it’s one of these quagmire numbers we can’t really get a handle on, but it always seems to be there weighing us down.
Eighteen decentralized positions I have to admit to some degree is news to me. We had some talk about the philosophy of this, but I’d have to say at this point, from a Yellowknife perspective, it is news to me, and I’ll assure you it’s news to many Members here.
That said, I exercise caution as we move forward and I do insist there will be great discussion as the days go forward.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
