Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. On March 8th the House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development will begin hearings into our Member of Parliament’s Bill C-530 which changes the way the Northwest Territories borrowing limit is determined.
As all Members of this House know, right now in order to increase a borrowing limit we have to lobby Ottawa for years, a process which is unacceptable for a mature jurisdiction and a government like ours. Under Mr. Bevington’s bill, this would change to a straightforward formula of 70 percent of all estimated revenues. This process is commonly used to determine borrowing limits. For example, under Section 7(1) of the debt regulations under the NWT Cities, Towns and Villages Act, the debt limit for a community like Inuvik or Yellowknife is set through the following formula: two times the municipal corporation’s revenue for the fiscal year minus the principal amount of the municipal corporation’s short-term debt. This process eliminates unneeded red tape and provides for fiscal capacity, which allows NWT communities to act quickly to meet the needs of its residents. Why can’t the Northwest Territories be treated the same way?
Speaking to his bill in the House of Commons, Mr. Bevington said: “It is not in the interest of people of the Northwest Territories to have its government come forward on a regular interval to beg Ottawa for an increase to the amount it has to borrow. This is not responsible government. This is not the kind of relationship we want to have with Ottawa. This is not the way that Canadians should be treated in this land today.”
Last year Moody’s Investors Service gave the NWT an Aa1 rating. This rating is the second highest in terms of credit risk. It places the NWT in line with most of the provinces and, in fact, better than many of the provinces. This is the second year in a row that Moody’s has issued the NWT such a high rating.
Our Territory is responsible; it is acting in a manner that many other provinces should emulate, yet we do not have the fiscal capacity to do the things we need to do for our Territory. Our constituencies have many needs and we have limited dollars. I hope that the Members of this House will support this bill, which gives the Northwest Territories the tools we need to continue to build a strong and beautiful part of Canada.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
