Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today, in my Member’s statement, I made reference to the fact this government has a potential open door, a loophole, if you will, in its tobacco tax collection process. Specifically, we have a process whereby we are relying on wholesalers based outside of the NWT to self-report on tobacco sold from their facilities to retailers within the NWT. My questions today are for the Minister of Finance.
Can the Minister clearly articulate why he continues to support the process of self-reporting on tobacco sold?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Member’s statement he made some very clear comments about the public purse and having to mind the public purse. It’s an issue that we are, of course, very aware of. We work collectively on that all the time. We have an Aa1 credit rating. We have the lowest debt to GDP ratio in the country. Our debt servicing costs are the lowest in the country. We just tabled our public accounts information. We just approved our capital budget.
As we look at the revenues, of course, we also have to look at the other side of the equation, which is managing expenditures and expectations and the prodigious proclivity to engage in ramping up expenditures. As a government, we are very concerned and cognizant of our responsibility as fiscal financial stewards and do the things necessary to keep our Aa1 credit rating and the fact that we are on such secure, stable footing.
The half response or quasi attempt to answer the question leaves me and the public at the Minister’s mercy and convenience.
The recently tabled Interim Public Accounts for the Year Ended March 31, 2013, has tobacco tax collected in the main estimates at $17.326 million, yet the 2013 actual collected is reported at $15.587 million, a shortfall of $1.739 million.
Can the Minister explain this approximate $2 million in the shortfall? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, one is called an estimate and one is called an actual. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it’s clearly unfortunate we’re not hearing answers here today.
Can the Minister reassure the public, given what I just quoted in the public accounts, that self-reporting of tobacco sold in the NWT is foolproof?
Mr. Speaker, I don’t think any human system, any tax system or any reporting system is foolproof, so I can’t give that ironclad guarantee. I can tell you we have a system that we believe is effective. We have a lot of very helpful feedback and advice from the Member. We’ve exchanged ideas. We’ve put into effect some of the recommendations he’s made and we are taxing due diligence. We are confident that the system we have is effective. We are going to make improvements like having all the black stock cigarettes are going to now move towards getting them so they have a mark and they are marked and we can track them better. We are going to do more audits and those types of things. We have a system that we believe is effective. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s obvious, by our own public accounts, we have an issue, and it’s painfully clear today that the Minister is not answering the specific questions pertaining to the tobacco self-reporting. I agree that the Minister putting provinces’ stamps on tobacco does have merits in tax control, but it does nothing to address the self-reporting.
Will this Minister subject his tobacco tax collector process to the rigours of the Auditor General of Canada for review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I’m standing and I’m answering every question. The fact that the Member doesn’t like the answers doesn’t mean I’m not answering the question fully and in a forthright manner as befits a Minister of the government. Everything we do is subject to audit. If there is any part of the operation that Members want us to put under a magnifying glass, as they have done in the past in different areas, absolutely we will put any system we have under the rigours of the Auditor General. If they can give us advice and recommendations that we haven’t contemplated, we’ll look at those. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Colleagues, before we move on today again, I would like to welcome to the House chief of Yellowknives Dene First Nation, Mr. Ernest Betsina. Welcome to the House.
---Applause
Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
