Debates of August 23, 2011 (day 16)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Finance and it goes back to last week when the Minister provided to the House his fiscal and economic update.

One of the things that I read in there, with great interest, was continuing the current fiscal strategy allows the Government of the Northwest Territories to move away from the debt limit while still allowing for some minimal investment to support priorities identified by the 17th Legislative Assembly. I think the financial situation for the incoming government is going to be quite tight. The first question I’d have for the Minister of Finance is: I know he talked about the borrowing limit in his fiscal update but he didn’t mention where exactly the discussions are with the federal government on that borrowing limit today, and I’d like to get an update from the Minister where exactly those discussions are at.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are currently discussions and work underway with Finance Canada and the three territories, including the Northwest Territories, on the basic first step of defining what is going to be meant by debt and the treatment that’s going to be given to different kinds of debt, which is in itself a very important, somewhat complex subject, but that is where we are. The intent is to try to have everything concluded with the three territories by the end of this fiscal year.

As we all know, we’re very close to that borrowing limit of $575 million. We have a number of capital projects on the horizon. We’ve just had a briefing at lunch time on the Tuk-Inuvik highway and our portion that we’ll have to come up with for that. There’s the Stanton Hospital here in Yellowknife and the upgrades for that. We can’t afford to wait much longer to get a reply or an answer from the federal government.

We’ve been talking about the borrowing limit and these negotiations now for about nine months, maybe even 12 months. I’d like to ask the Minister if they can put the pressure on the federal government to at least give us an answer so that we can have some hope for finding some more dollars to accomplish the things that the next government is going to have to set out to accomplish.

We share the urgency of the Member in terms of resolving this issue. The capital plan for next year is $75 million for the whole Government of the Northwest Territories. The majority of that money is already subscribed to with multi-year programs. I agree we need to have this issue resolved. We’re working with the Department of Finance, the federal Department of Finance, and the Premier will be taking the opportunity when he meets with the Prime Minister here on Thursday to raise the issue, as well, to impress upon him the urgency of this and that the North stands ready to invest in a lot of the infrastructure projects in our future, including the Tuk-Inuvik highway, but we need the flexibility to be able to do that, to make other appropriate investments, which at the current time, with the current structure and definitions and limits, we don’t have that flexibility. Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister’s response. I know he understands the urgency in this. Obviously, there’s a great deal of urgency.

The next question I’d have for the Minister of Finance -- obviously, we are going to be headed into an election -- I’m just wondering what type of information is available on, like, a government-wide variance report or an exact fiscal picture, not only for Members of this House but potential candidates in the upcoming election, to see exactly where the territory’s finances sit on the eve of this election and into the election campaign. I think it’s important that that information gets out in as thorough a breakdown as possible, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

There are a number of documents that are out there. If the Member is talking about some type of, sort of, fiscal update that would be new and separate, I would be glad to have that discussion with him to see what’s possible. We have some information available on line. We also have whatever information and fiscal updates are provided here in this House in terms of the detail, some of the borrowing limit issues, the other pressures in terms of revenues and expenditures, and the broader economic landscape that we’re all operating in, which could have a significant effect on our revenues, for example. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I thank the Minister for that. What I’d be looking for is the more detail the better, a complete breakdown of the territory’s finances. I know we’re about not even halfway through this fiscal year but, like I said, a variance report, where we’re at at dissolution. I think that’s important not only for Members here but potential candidates that are out there so that everybody gets an idea of what they’re getting themselves into. Thank you.

I’ll commit to have a discussion with the members of the Financial Management Board to look at what might be possible in terms of trying to meet the request from the Member. Thank you.