Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the Minister of Finance on his statement on the fiscal update this morning. It's good to have some facts on the ground for us to consider and some clear projects for moving our economy forward.
I also agree with his assertion that the tax base at this time is too low to fuel the kind of revenues that we require. However, the low-hanging fruit of our economy has always been the mining sector, and of course our Territorial Formula Financing Grant. These are areas that we can work to directly expand by making the Northwest Territories the most attractive place to invest, live, and work. We should be looking at ways to lower taxes for businesses and create tax credits for investment and tax credits for people to encourage the growth of economic migration to the Northwest Territories.
Furthermore, we should be expanding useful programs, like the Mining Incentive Program, and looking at ways to settle land claims and create certainty for the industry so we can make use of those resources through enhanced features like a heritage fund that actually invests in our economy today, instead of keeping the money in reserve for a rainy day. We need to work diligently towards these activities, and we need to be bold and ambitious. I'm pleased to see that we are finally starting to move in that direction, but I would also like to see further public consultation and further discussion with this side of the House about how we are going to move forward.
I will have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment on how we are moving forward on mining. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
