Thank you, Mr. Speaker. April 1st, 2010, marked the start of a new fiscal year. The measures included in our 2010-2011 budget are now being implemented, including almost $1.3 billion of operating expenditures and over $200 million in planned capital investments. These measures will be used to deliver needed public services and infrastructure to NWT residents and will help support our economy as the recovery takes hold.
Recently released preliminary estimates of 2009 Gross Domestic Product confirmed that the NWT economy shrank last year. Although there are positive signs for 2010, including rising diamond prices and an expected increase in mining exploration spending, the need for caution remains. Canada’s economy is expected to grow in 2010, but growth will be moderated as interest rates edge up and fiscal stimulus spending winds down. Internationally, fiscal and financial instability in parts of Europe point to the fragile and complex state of the global economy.
Our 2010-2011 budget planned for a slow recovery. Our government’s fiscal plan included holding the course on spending and making substantial investments in infrastructure to provide NWT residents and businesses breathing room. We are prepared to incur some short-term debt to accomplish this. We recognized, however, that the fiscal plan needed to include measures to return to a sustainable path over the next few fiscal years, measures such as maintaining a tight rein on spending growth and reducing capital investment over time to historical levels. Although barely six weeks into the fiscal year, we have already begun our planning for 2011-2012, based on the fiscal strategy we laid out in January. Next year’s budget will be the last for the 16th Assembly. With the time left to us, we will be focussing on consolidating the progress we have made and deliver on the initiatives that we have begun.
Mr. Speaker, April 1st was also the day the GNWT assumed the debt associated with the Deh Cho Bridge Project. However, assuming this responsibility will not change the GNWT’s fiscal strategy. The bridge will largely be financed by the savings from the elimination of the current ferry and ice bridge operations and a toll on commercial vehicles crossing the bridge. The requirement for a subsidy of up to $2 million was identified in 2007 and has been factored into our fiscal projections.
I am able to confirm that federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has obtained federal Cabinet approval for a temporary adjustment to our borrowing limit. Effective April 2010, the limit has been increased by $75 million for a period of five years. This accommodation will give us the necessary room to implement the fiscal strategy that we presented in January. In addition, assumption of the debt has not affected our Aa1 credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service.
The Deh Cho Bridge Project is now a GNWT capital project, funded by the debt issued in 2008. However, the GNWT has always stood behind this project. We have never provided anything less than our full support, including guaranteeing the payments needed to service the debt. For this reason, we were, and continue to be, puzzled and disappointed by the lack of confidence of the lenders, Sunlife Financial and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, in the project. Their financial interest and that of their shareholders and beneficiaries was never in jeopardy.
Mr. Speaker, the investments and plans we have put in place to date have served as a source of stability during the economic downturn. We will continue to proceed carefully through the uncertain economic times ahead, but will also continue to ensure that the important work we have started in this Assembly is completed. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
