Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve heard the Minister of Finance’s priorities stated in his budget address today. Today I will take my two minutes and add some of my priorities, review some of my priorities that I will pursue in the upcoming budget debate.
At the top of the list is implementation of the recommendations of the Child and Family Services Act review. We heard more evidence of this urgent need on this morning’s news with the extremely sad report of a teen suicide and the coroner specifically urging action on the committee’s recommendations.
Action on housing. We urgently need a comprehensive, cross-departmental strategy for sustainable housing as a social program and an engine of local economies and to build our housing stock on sustainable, energy-efficient practices. Sunsetting of federal funds makes this even more pressing.
We must move now to achieve science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets supported again by cross-government action including new renewable energy projects and progressive work towards a smartly designed carbon tax. A listen to any news report will confirm the urgency of this action. I suggest that creation of a climate change mitigation and adaptation department be forwarded to the 17th Assembly for consideration.
We need a position in the Executive to support the capacity and vital work of the volunteer sector.
I look forward to the establishment of our Heritage Fund. Let’s kick-start that fund with a progressive resource tax to get full value from resource extraction until devolution six to eight years hence.
Extension of supplementary health benefits to those now lacking coverage. Cutting pharmaceutical costs through joint buying is a priority and can help recover these extra costs.
Further, critical investments in child care and early childhood development. Actions on the recommendations on the No Place for Poverty workshop. The grassroots workshop gave us a program of priorities and actions. Let’s get going on that wisdom with actions to usher this work into the 17th Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve heard the Minister mention some of these items and I’ll be bringing up the rest during debate.
Mr. Speaker, money is tight and we are flirting dangerously with our debt limit. We need a Program Review Office that actually produces a much more effective prevention and comprehensive, coordinated, cross-government action than we have…
Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This budget and past budgets have been concentrating on super projects like the Deh Cho Bridge and super schools like the one in Inuvik. I believe it is time to start concentrating on the needs of our small and remote communities, Mr. Speaker. They have infrastructure needs of which I’ve been speaking for some time, like a new school in Trout Lake and reviewing the need for a new school in Nahanni Butte, increased funding for health and wellness program dollars for the smaller communities. As well, as I travelled, there were two other important issues that came up. They are housing and roads.
While I am pleased with the level of investment in housing, constituents continue to raise the issue of their arrears and have no recourse to appeal those old debts. I wasn’t very pleased that there was no mention of the appeal system that I’ve been asking for, for some time in this House, in the budget. I look forward to a resolution on that matter in this coming year.
Secondly, roads, roads, roads. This is always brought to my attention. The level of expenditures in the budget may be adequate. However, the O and M dollars must be spent and stay away from carry-overs, Mr. Speaker. We do have lots of time to plan and the government does, and I ask the government to carry out those expenditures. Highway No. 7 and Highway No. 1 to Wrigley are much travelled roads for the constituents and they often tell me that is their lifeline. That is how they make their money, and those roads are notorious because they break down so easily and I believe that the O and M has to be expended, Mr. Speaker, on a timely basis and not let our roads deteriorate. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is budget day in the Northwest Territories and I was interviewed by the media after the budget address and I said that, overall, I am pleased with the budget.
This budget will not see the same volume of investment in things like capital infrastructure that we have realized extraordinarily in the last few years, but I think the 16th Assembly will be remembered for carrying this Territory through a recession at the same time using those stimulus dollars and extraordinary capital investments to help ease the impact of the recession here in the Northwest Territories. I’m putting this on the record today, but I hope that this government will be remembered for that, the 16th Assembly, for managing us through that.
Otherwise, the budget is not throwing excessive amounts of money around and, as it should be for the last budget in a government that is in a situation where their outgoing is kind of a steady-as-you-go, continuing to recognize the priorities and investing some money, but I believe it is, overall, a good budget.
Mr. Speaker, to the issue of the community that I represent in Hay River, I am very pleased and thankful that we have seen the capital projects that we have in the last while in Hay River, starting with the assisted living facility which is now fully completed and operational. The trade school which has been built onto the high school is something that, when I was first elected, I made a list of 10 things I would like to see happen during my 10 years in office. I didn’t think I was going to be here 16 years. I didn’t think it would take this long. However, the trade school is there in Hay River and it is a tribute to the people who worked on it and who had the vision to see something like this, and to the fact that there are opportunities for many great trades opportunities for young people here in the North and in Hay River.
Mr. Speaker, we are in a difficult time in Hay River right now, though, and certainly the construction that is taking place on the retrofit on the high school is going to help offset that; also, the plans that will be underway and the tenders that will be let for the construction of our new hospital. Mr. Speaker, we see things that are on the horizon, though, that just a little bit of help could bring them to fruition and we could realize the benefits of things such as Tamerlane Ventures with their mining operation at Pine Point. The Finance Minister did not mention Tamerlane today in his address. I will take that as just an oversight, but we need to get behind that company, which would see a real marked economic activity in Hay River. That is the end of my time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister of Finance for the budget address there today. There is certainly a lot that can and will be discussed from both within the budget itself and from within the budget address. I am looking forward to those discussions.
I would like to start off right now with just a couple of points. First, I am happy to see that the budget is consistent with our fiscal strategy and that the growth is less than 3 percent minus the net compensation. I think that’s important for the future of this government, both the 16th and future governments.
I also agree with the Minister’s statement that we need to focus on finding efficiencies and put dollars where they truly will be most effective. I think that is also critical for the future of this and future governments.
I agree that we must seek some creative new ways of doing things that may be outside the box, but I also think it’s important to look within. We have a great number of employees within the Northwest Territories who are highly educated, highly motivated, highly competent and skilled employees who have a lot of these solutions. We need to engage our employees. We need to empower them.
One example of how this government could increase efficiencies would be to actually work with these employees and have them do the work that they were hired to do. I think we spend a lot of time with our employees acting as contract managers where we contract out program design, program evaluation, program implementation. We have employees who can get down into the nitty-gritty and design our programs. We don’t need to keep hiring contractors. I think it’s time to work with our employees and empower them to do this work.
Right now, if you look throughout the government, you can go find bookshelves pretty much everywhere you go. They are full of reports and studies that contractors have done for us. I don’t think many of our employees have ownership or a sense of belonging to those reports because they weren’t involved in the actual design and development. I think if we were to empower our employees, they would have a sense of ownership and a sense of commitment to these policies. We could actually get past planning and get into action. We can put our action in process and start actually implementing some of these things that need to be implemented.
To the Minister moving forward, work with our employees. Seek out their input. Seek their advice. Get them to do the work. Let’s stop contracting. Let’s spend our money efficiently and effectively.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In preparation for today, budget day, I’ve taken a look back at comments I’ve made at various times during this Assembly in regard to previous budgets. I was struck by the similarity of my concerns then until now.
On May 26, 2008, in my Member’s statement, I said, “I am disappointed in three aspects of this budget: that there’s no new revenue source; that budget reductions seem to target jobs first; that there is no coordinated approach from the government for the consideration of saving the environment, energy planning, and minimizing climate change through all of our programs and services.” Regrettably, two of these three items remain a concern today, almost three years later. Today’s budget has no new revenue source and we still do not have a coordinated or comprehensive approach to energy planning, conservation and climate change. Despite continued pleas from Members on this side of the House, it is yet to become a number one priority for this government.
On February 5, 2009, I stated, “The budget continues to use the term ‘strategic initiative’ to define costs which are actually forced growth.” To be honest, this has gotten somewhat better, but all of our budgets continue to identify certain expenditures as strategic initiatives when they’re really just a regular cost of doing business, nothing special.
On January 28, 2010, I spoke of two things: the need for the GNWT to develop an anti-poverty strategy and the need to increase actions which address homelessness. We have yet to see either of these things.
Just last October 29th my Member’s statement included these words: “On another note, during the departmental reviews it was again evident that GNWT departments plan in isolation. It was all too apparent in our review of business plans last month. It was another case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.” Again I have to say, regretfully, I must admit, that the situation in this regard has not changed.
In summary, I believe that as a government and as a Territory we need to make fundamental systemic changes to the way we deliver programs and services and to the way we think about government. Without it we will never achieve parity and an acceptable quality of life for our residents.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak today about the 2011-2012 budget. What is clear is that this government does not have a problem when it comes to spending money. I must say that some of the spending was necessary. The $865 million on infrastructure projects around the Territory has helped our economy through turbulent economic times. However, we have not begun to address what streamlining government operations and improving effectiveness and efficiencies within the government actually means.
The Program Review Office, which was started two and a half years ago, was supposed to deliver information to this House that would lead to decisions being made. The problem is that we have not been given adequate information to make decisions, with the exception of the office space requirement work that was completed. This is not acceptable. I have to ask why more decision points haven’t been brought to Members of this House.
It is convention that the Finance Minister wears footwear indicative of the budget the government is presenting on budget day and I was anxious to see if Mr. Miltenberger was going to don some skates today, as I believe that is exactly the type of footwear that he should be putting on today. As a Territory we are skating on thin ice when it comes to our borrowing limit. We’ve missed the net when it comes to forecasting corporate tax revenue and we should be put in the penalty box for leaving the next government in such a precarious financial state.
While I have a few more moments, I also wanted to mention the Strategic Initiatives committees that I still believe have been a complete waste of time, energy and resources of this government. Really, how many deputy ministers do you need in a room? They all have their own departments to run and I don’t see what the advantages of having these Strategic Initiatives committees really were.
Then there’s the health care spending where once again the government recognizes the need to change how our system works. This is nothing new. The issues go back to a time when the Finance Minister was the Health Minister and the Premier was the Health Minister. These decisions just have not been made. You’ll hear me speak again about this to the current Minister of Health during this session.
We have much to look forward to as a Territory. I know I have highlighted some of the issues that I see with the budget. Optimistically, I think the future is very bright for this Territory. I think what the public wants and deserves are people here who are going to make some decisions.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In reading the Finance Minister’s budget speech I think he has a lot to be proud of, but I fear, like several other of my colleagues, there are many issues that have been miss-highlighted or completely skipped over.
The concern I want to highlight in a similar manner is the fiscal management; quite simply, the cost of government. Under the Minister of Finance’s Fiscal Strategy section, the Minister was very fiscally prudent when coming to his words when talking about the cost of government and how to bring the cost of government down. Perhaps he was too little on the descriptive side as to the details of what we are doing to reduce the cost in government or even controlling it, reining it in, or eliminating it through programs that do not work anymore. He was very clear, to his credit, of exercising the expenditure cap at 3 percent but very unclear as to where else he’s managing government budgets to ensure that every stone is turned when it comes to saving our money.
It is true that the Finance Minister does provide a blushing drive-by and mentions the Program Review Office, but in all fairness we’ve heard very little, as my colleagues have mentioned, from that group. Everything that they have proposed has been so high level or so divisive that it has been difficult to get behind in this House.
In essence, what have we done as a government to really control the cost of government? In the budget on page 4 the Finance Minister clearly states in writing: “It will mean continuing to seek creative new ways of doing things, being open to new ideas and being willing to challenge the status quo.” Well, here is certainly one: what about hiring an efficiency expert? Large industries such as diamond mines or other corporate giants all do the same thing. They look at every dollar and ask themselves if they really need to do this. This would be very effective on our programming as well as just day-to-day business operations. Yes, government is a business, and we tend to forget about that sometimes.
There are other ways. What about value audits for programs? Again, asking ourselves if certain programs exist simply because they exist, or if we ask ourselves why they exist. I don’t think we do that, either.
Red-tape review I’ve raised, as well as other colleagues here. What about the paperwork and regulations that we needlessly put on our taxpayer businesses?
We can give credit where credit is due. On page 11 the Finance Minister talked about the biomass heating energy efficiency that will reduce the cost of heating at $775,000 of our $1.3 billion budget.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Finance Minister. I was expecting at least a heckle over there.
As I was trying to say, the biomass heating energy retrofit will save $775,000 on our $1.3 billion budget, but in all fairness, we have to keep in mind that’s 0.0005 percent of savings. I think it’s the right track and the right type of thinking, but we need to see more of those types of initiatives.
The legendary military man General Patton always believed in providing the direction and allowing the right people, the skilled people to find a way to get us through.
In closing to wrap this all up, the 2009 drop of $41 million in our forecasted corporate taxes requires a cushion, as highlighted by the Minister of Finance. As I’ve said many times, we need a revenue stabilization stream to protect us. This is just one of the problems on two fronts that we can be tackling as we need to pursue good fiscal, sound management of our books.
I’ll have questions later today for the Finance Minister.
