Mr. Speaker, as the 18th Assembly gets down to business, there's a degree of uneasiness out there among the people of the Northwest Territories. Notwithstanding the Premier's good-news comments just now on tourism, there's been very little good economic news of late. The oil patch has slowed to a standstill, our friends to the south in Alberta have seen up to 35,000 people laid off over the past couple of years, and the Canadian dollar is only worth 70 cents U.S. Although there was a partial restoration of our Territorial Formula Financing funding, a significant portion still remains in question. Here at home, oil and gas exploration has slowed down to nothing. One of the three diamond projects has gone into care and maintenance while also moving their head office to the South. Right now things aren't that good, and that gives all of us a sense of uncertainty, and that's not comforting for most folks.
I share in the concern of many, that this government has chosen this time to pile on with drastic fiscal measures in the interests of balancing the books by the end of our term. While balanced books are a nice thing to have, they should not be the single overriding factor determining our fiscal direction over the life of the 18th Assembly. In challenging times, it is important to be cautious and sensible in allocating public resources, but austerity for its own sake does not constitute a benefit to families, businesses, and communities. It does not constitute better government. We must take a triple- bottom-line approach to conducting our business, one that sees a balance struck in managing our financial, social, and environmental responsibilities. I'm also concerned that decisions taken now in response to the current economic climate will tie our hands over this Assembly's entire term. A year from now the economic picture might be very different. We should not make decisions now that will restrict our flexibility to respond to changing circumstances. Northerners demand that we be sensible with public dollars, indeed. But they also call on this government to do careful research into the impacts and consequences of fiscal decisions. They need us to conduct open and thorough consultation with Regular Members, Aboriginal governments, the business community, and the public on government priorities and initiatives. They call on us to not commit ourselves to a direction we cannot change. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. They call on us to not commit ourselves to a direction we cannot change, and they call on us to not prioritize balanced government books over the real needs of families, businesses, and communities. It's a crucial time in our history, Mr. Speaker, and our decisions will have extensive impacts across the territory. I call on this government to engage in broad consultation, conduct careful research and consideration, and apply a balanced approach toward the way we conduct our business before we commit to a course of action that may tie our hands later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
