Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to address the Government of the Northwest Territories’ maturation process and its borrowing limit.
First, I must say that I’m surprised that our Member of Parliament for the Western Arctic is down in Ottawa trumpeting Bill C-530, which would see our Territory’s debt limit raised to 70 percent of our expenditures, which last year, at just over $1.3 billion, would result in a corresponding debt limit of somewhere in the neighbourhood of $900 million.
The big question, Mr. Speaker, is does our Member of Parliament have the blessing of this Cabinet? How about the Finance Minister or the government? The residents of this Territory would like to know who gave him his marching orders or, Mr. Speaker, is he marching to the beat of his own drummer? Certainly meetings would have taken place where the proposed Bill C-530 would have to have been discussed with this government. To my knowledge, our government has never talked about a percentage of expenditures as a debt limit. Perhaps in Mr. Bevington’s and the NDP’s world, money really does grow on trees, Mr. Speaker.
Let’s be honest with ourselves. We have so much on our plate with the AIP on devolution and resource revenue sharing that we need to stay focused. I firmly believe that this Territory should continue to pursue the AIP with our partners, the aboriginal governments.
Mr. Speaker, the federal government is currently analyzing and reviewing the debt limits of all three northern territories. Please, let’s let them do that work. Mr. Speaker, should the AIP advance, we will still be two to three years away while we work out a final agreement. At this present juncture, it would seem to me to be premature and irresponsible to add to our debt limit.
Mr. Speaker, we still do not know what the Deh Cho Bridge will end up costing this government, but, Mr. Speaker, you can mark my words again today, it will be much more than $182 million. Why are we in such a rush to get more credit when reality would indicate this government only has 10 months left to go before residents elect another government? It would only stand to reason the larger the debt, the larger the debt servicing, which, Mr. Speaker, would drastically reduce our ability to fund programs and services for our residents.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Finance at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in the House to discuss in a similar form the House of Commons Bill C-530, which is a bill to discuss the borrowing limit of the Northwest Territories. Slightly different approach than my colleague Mr. Ramsay has. I respect the spirit and intent that our Member of Parliament has on this particular issue. I believe that the internalistic approach that Ottawa has continued to enforce on the Government of the Northwest Territories and its people needs to end.
I do not necessarily fear the approach the Member of Parliament has been taking, however, I do think there are a number of concerns that need to be aired and answered at the same time. The concerns are certainly made up as perhaps my colleague put it: Who had given the Member of Parliament marching orders to act on our behalf?
The direction of the bill states that 70 percent of revenues should be our borrowing limit. That is up to $950 million, as approximated. My issue with that particular case is: Who has he talked to in this particular government? My concern is, of course, he has not talked to me and I’ve looked around and only heard of one person he has specifically spoken to, and I’m not sure if that was any more than water-cooler talk at the time.
This is a serious trek forward to change the borrowing limit of the Government of the Northwest Territories without a Cabinet directive. Has the Member of Parliament spoken with this Cabinet? Has he spoken with the Assembly in any form? I’m certainly not aware of that. Does he have a Cabinet position that reflects the Finance Minister’s hard work in discussing this issue with his colleagues? Again, I speak with caution and concern. I’m not against the proposal provided by the Member of Parliament, but I do want to exercise concern as to whether he’s doing this alone or if he’s doing it without support.
I agree with many of the comments in yesterday’s discussion in the House of Parliament that emphasized one size does not fit all three territories. Mr. Larry Bagnell, the MP for the Yukon, spoke quite strongly about the Northwest Territories and its abilities. I also want to acknowledge the Bloc, who actually spoke, as well, and said that there was great fiscal management of this Territory and the fact that they can certainly support the direction it’s presently proceeding on.
During question period I will have questions for the Minister of Finance to seek clarity on who gave our MP direction on this endeavour and if it has the support of this government.
