Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to welcome Ministers and Members back to this Assembly.
Much like the spring that has taken over our North, I sense a new energy, a feeling of rejuvenation and a renewed spirit of commitment to the vision, goals and priorities that we set for ourselves almost two years ago.
At that time, Mr. Speaker, we spoke with confidence of realizing a Territory filled with strong individuals, families and communities each sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous economy.
We envisioned a future empowered by the potential that exists in our people, our businesses and our communities.
However, we also recognized that our government was living beyond its means. We knew that if we didn’t make changes, the good work we had planned would soon be overtaken by serious fiscal challenges.
It was apparent that, to realize our vision, we as the 16th Assembly would need to correct our financial course and make some courageous and aggressive decisions.
Many of the measures we have taken or suggested have been controversial, but they have produced the desired result and as recession has taken hold, our region is in better shape than many in Canada to weather the economic downturn.
Meanwhile, as a government, we are moving forward with a plan, five strategic pillars that are focusing and organizing our work and initiatives to meet the goals that we share as an Assembly.
Our plan is built around the 16th Assembly’s vision: Northerners Working Together. It is responsive to the priorities that we have identified. Most importantly, it is focussed firmly on achieving the potential of our future.
In March -- and in the face of rising economic uncertainty in Canada, and around the world -- we took a bold and uncompromising approach to investing in this future. Our government introduced and passed, with overwhelming support, a $1.2 billion budget focused exclusively on investment in our people, our economy and our environment.
There will be a cost to our approach that will require us to carry some debt. Significant fiscal discipline will still be needed. But we will manage our debt in order to provide the support and stimulus that NWT residents need to receive from their government to get through these times.
I would like to commend Members of this Assembly for their guidance, words, and commitment in making the tough decisions that we have made today. Today, as we return to this Assembly, I do so with a strong sense of confidence that we are on the right track with the growing reassurance that our plan is the right plan for the times. Much of what we have done to date has been ground work setting the stage for the second half of our term as an Assembly. Improved processes and investments that I believe have and will, and are already, paying dividends. We have increased our investment in capital spending. We have also made a fundamental change in our budget process to get projects underway faster, encouraging more bids, increasingly competitive quotes, and providing cost savings and efficiency for our budgets.
Our new approach to flow capital infrastructure funding directly to community governments is allowing them to make decisions that reflect local priorities and concerns, and has resulted in strengthened economic activity in many of our smaller communities. Meanwhile, our work to lobby and leverage federal economic stimulus programs and initiatives is also netting tangible results. Last week we unveiled a joint funding partnership that will see our two-year, $50 million investment in housing for the NWT more than doubled with leveraged federal funds over two years. In recent months the Government of Canada has committed to more than $277 million over two years for infrastructure projects in the NWT under the Building Canada Fund.
These are the times in which our role as government is to provide stability and support for the economy, to act as a counterweight and to provide the economic stimulus needed to maintain employment and sustain economic activity until the private sector can recover.
We will be investing $246 million in capital spending this year. Our Infrastructure Investment Plan will inject over $700 million into the NWT economy over the next five years. By providing business opportunities and employment for Northerners this record level of capital investment is serving to counter some of the challenges being faced by reduced activity in our mining and oil and gas sectors.
We know that, in time, the nature and magnitude of our region’s natural resources will allow us to rebound from the challenges that now exist. So we are also investing in new initiatives that will help us maximize economic opportunities in our future, promoting the NWT as a place to live and do business, making investments to reduce the cost of living, implementing programs that diversify the economy and encourage our residents to enhance their skills and training.
Particularly when it comes to our northern business community, we are working to protect and sustain the economic capacity that we have built, and to preserve and maintain the potential that exists in our people, our businesses and our communities. Ironically, this time of economic transition has allowed us to cast a spotlight on our Territory as a jurisdiction whose economic potential and success still promises to have direct and significant positive impacts on other provinces and territories in Canada.
With this increased awareness to the North, with the strength of our resource potential, and with the current need for economic stimulus across our nation, I believe that the opportunities that we have long sought as residents of the NWT are as close as they have ever been. But we will need to work together and we will need to have the courage and conviction to see our plan through, to remain focused on the potential that exists for our Territory, and to keep our work firmly focused on the vision and goals that we have set out.
Mr. Speaker I look forward to sitting down with Members in that spirit of consensus that we have all recently endorsed and defined. A strong and independent North is going to have to be built on partnerships. As Members of the 16th Assembly we are, first and foremost, Northerners Working Together. And this is the greatest and most important source from which I am drawing my confidence for our future. I know that our spirit as Northerners is strong and vibrant. We have a vision. We have a plan. It is based firmly on the enormous potential that our Territory holds in its resources, its people, and its spirit. Quyanainni, thank you.
