Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the government has brought its budget for the coming year. I am pleased to see it is not in fact an austerity budget, rather is one of status quo. It balances reductions with new spending in an effort to meet the shared priorities of both sides of this House. While I’m pleased with this outcome, I cannot say the same for the efforts undertaken by the leadership of the Premier and Cabinet to communicate these spending measures. In fact, I do not believe that any reasonable Northerner would have believed in the months leading up to the introduction of the budget that this plan was anything else than one of damaging cuts and significant job losses. Great pains were taken by this government to spread the message of economic uncertainty at a time when Northerners needed hope and a vision for growth and stability as the 18th Assembly came into its own. This message was soundly rejected by the Regular Members of the Legislative Assembly and our desire for a stronger economic plan for our future was widely supported by our constituents at home across the territory. I continue to question why this heavy-handed rhetoric of austerity and fiscal crisis was ever required given the final outcome of this budget process and I have great confidence that it had everything to do with the hard work and undaunted advocacy of Regular Members calling for real growth and programs that respond to the priorities of our people. I give a great deal of credit to the Premier and Cabinet for listening to the concerns of Northerners and of their representatives and tempering the message of fiscal doom and gloom while offering a budget that maintains a healthy level of government investment in our economy and communities. Clearly there is still hope for our consensus government system as we work together for a prosperous and healthy future for the Northwest Territories.
While this government was warning against so-called reckless spending that would beggar our grandchildren, the Premier and Cabinet eagerly await handouts from a government in Ottawa that, by their own assessment, is doing exactly that. I am, for one, grateful to have a willing partner in the federal government in Prime Minister Trudeau that understands the need to grow and diversify the national economy through significant spending and by taking ambitious risks that will pay off with increased growth and new job opportunities. That does not mean, Mr. Speaker, that I do not believe in fiscal prudence or removing the weight of tax burdens governments sometimes implement on the shoulders of their citizens. Being that there is no new oil and gas production activity happening within the Northwest Territories, the closing of the Mackenzie Valley Petroleum Office makes good fiscal sense, while reducing taxes on small businesses will invigorate entrepreneurs to do what they do best, innovate.
This is more important than ever in this current economic climate for the Northwest Territories. Bedrocks of our economy, mining and mineral exploration, are in trouble and we, as leaders, must do whatever we can to restore this industry to growth, to create jobs and lasting prosperity for our communities. Increasing the Mining Incentive Program, as I promised I would fight for in my campaign, is the right course of action to help our partners in the mining industry achieve new opportunities for exploration so we can be ready to develop new mines when commodity prices return to health.
This government’s commitment to review the Heritage Act will ensure that resource royalties from mining will provide economic benefits to future generations and provide new and sustainable revenues for this government moving forward. Film, agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and the support of an evolving knowledge economy is where I know we must aim if we are to diversify our commodity-dominated economy like most other jurisdictions have in the past. Supporting the same through tourism, product diversification and the film rebate program is a good start, and I agree in principle with the Convention Bureau, but I need more clarification to reassure me that we are not just creating an advertising department for one hotel in our capital. We need more infrastructure to support our tourism industry and make the north as spectacular as our marketing slogan is. Bring more people here. Show them how beautiful it is and allow them to make the decision on their own to relocate here and increase our population base. Tourism 2020 can be a key component to beginning our long road to diversification, for as rich as we are in minerals, the natural beauty of our lands and the thriving culture of our peoples is on par with any jurisdiction in our great nation or the world. As the government puts it: we are spectacular!
I’m troubled by the fact the government has only thought of utilizing Aurora College as a proponent of the knowledge economy. Although it is a great institution unto itself, it’s not the only option. Dechinta and College nordique francophone are offering great programs that can relieve pressures and expectations currently solely invested in Aurora College, and we can act as their partner in attaining the knowledge economy that this territory truly needs. I’m not unrealistic; I know we are almost always a one-horse economy. Mining and mineral exploration have not only been the dominant and economic force in our past but without question will remain that way for our foreseeable future. For if we wish to return to the robust growth that we have become accustomed to only a few short years ago, it will be upon the back of that industry. We are a volatile economy, if not the most in the country. We are dominated by the price of the commodities and as I stated earlier, I believe diversification is vital for long-term economic stability but that is still a while away.
I believe the government made the right choice in not implementing austerity and I applaud the Minister of Finance for that because if this government would have taken such action it would have only added to the suffering of those most affected by an economic downturn: the working poor and employees in the natural resource sector. I will be keeping my eye on the Department of Finance in future budgets and I pledge I will never support a government that puts its bottom line over the well-being of its people, its stakeholders, and employees. On that note, the Department of Finance has become the perennial bearer of bad news, providing a constant reminder of fiscal trouble and economic downturn. Even when other departments deliver positive results relating to tourism, agriculture, and other areas of economic growth it all ends when the next fiscal update hits the floor, and that’s why I would strongly advise this government take into account the need for change of tone when presenting fiscal updates to the public. The Minister of Finance has also become the grim reaper of the public service. An undeserved reputation given that cuts are, in fact, balanced with new positions and new spending. Indeed, the sense of concern is borne not of action but instead from a persistent communications campaign that has promised cuts without promising growth. I urge this government to develop stronger communications plans in the future that emphasize the positive aspects of our economic outlook and plan budget measures. Hope for the future is always stronger than the fear that this government has nurtured over our economy and fiscal future. Voters in the last election chose a new government and demanded new leadership and a new way of doing business. While they certainly did not vote for cuts and austerity, equally, they did not vote for the status quo. While I am grateful that the Premier has listened to the concerns of Regular Members and has been working with this side of the House on creating a balanced approached to this budget, I’m disappointed that this budget does not go far enough to deliver real change. The Finance Minister said our economy is the most volatile in Canada and in principle I concur. It’s clear we need to make stabilizing our economic growth a critical priority for this and future governments, and achieve this stability by investing in jobs and economic diversification. There’s real potential in growing our agricultural, manufacturing, tourism and arts industries along with pursuing innovation through new opportunities and clean energy and renewable resources.
Mining and mineral exploration industry is still our economic bread and butter and we have a duty to support them, for if even one disagrees with that industry there are real people involved who suffer when commodities are down and we, as their representatives, cannot let that suffering go unanswered. On November 23, 2015, I had the honour of being elected by the constituents of Kam Lake to implement real change and I do not take that responsibility lightly. What the North needs is not the status quo but rather the transformative change that puts our economy on a new sustainable course for the future. I declare here, though, if the government does shy from that responsibility to ensure this change we, on this side of the House, will not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
