Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I spoke about the new federal tax regime on small business, and so my questions today are for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, Premiers from around the country are starting to voice their concerns to Ottawa about the proposed changes, and so I would like to ask the Premier: has our government had the opportunity yet to review the 65page proposed changes, the consultation paper? If so, what is our government's position, or what are our views and thoughts on that consultation paper? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to advise that our Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Finance has reviewed the federal consultation paper, and we continue to monitor the national discussion. I can clarify that the Premier of Nova Scotia has been very careful about his comments on these tax changes; the Government of BC has expressed concern about the level of consultation; the Governments of Manitoba and Newfoundland have been critical of the federal government.
We as a government, the Government of the Northwest Territories, support small businesses. We recognize small businesses are a very important part of our economy and our population, and we want to ensure that a fair tax system continues across the country, including the Northwest Territories.
I appreciate the reply from the Premier. Mr. Speaker, the federal government is calling these "loopholes," and small business in fact are calling them laws, which in fact they are, that allow them to exist as businesses. Going forward, businesses are sharing a fear that these new laws will kind of tax them out of existence, or certainly not incentivize anyone to start a new business. My question for the Premier is: how has our government been communicating so far with small business on this issue? We just returned not long ago from Opportunities North. There were plenty of small businesses there sharing their opinion, so what are we doing to show small business that we support them and that we "have their back?"
I want to reiterate that what we are talking about are federal tax changes, and the federal government has been consulting with Canada's business community. The federal government is not prone to sharing a lot of information with us on these national initiatives, but certainly as consultation is under way by the Government of Canada, we have not communicated with the business community at this time.
Well, I guess that supports, maybe, the case of my next question. Some governments, some provincial governments, are calling on Ottawa to not rush through this and to extend the consultative period. I am wondering, because we have not had the opportunity to reach out to small business here to date, can our government at least send a message to Ottawa, write a letter to the Prime Minister saying that we have put in some good work up here in the North; we are stimulating small business; we certainly do not want to see our efforts inhibited; and will they extend the consultative period and allow the federal government and the territorial government to collect some input from small business so that they can have their voice be heard on this matter?
As the Member indicated, many of us were at Opportunities North in Edmonton. I was very pleased to see excellent representation from the North at that forum. We all heard the federal parliamentary secretary, who had just returned from federal Caucus meetings to say to all of those people that were there that they would be making changes, although, at the national stage, the Prime Minister had indicated they were not prepared to make changes. However, I can say that the Government of Canada has committed to share the outcomes of their consultations with provinces and territories.
All Premiers will be attending a First Ministers’ Conference in the very near future, and several have indicated they would raise this issue because of the fact that there will be some discussions in that regard. Once we have the information and a clear understanding of where the federal government is going in tax reform, we will develop an appropriate response, including writing a letter. Certainly, when we talk about the economy, we have concerns as a government. We recognize small business is very important. We have stayed away from increasing a tax on small business, and we are quite prepared to work on behalf of small businesses in the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Premier for indicating that he will be raising the issue at upcoming First Ministers’ Conferences. Certainly, any time that Ministers are meeting with their federal counterparts, I am going to certainly encourage them to raise this issue on behalf of small business in the North. Again, I appreciate that the Premier is inclusive of writing a letter to show and state our position of support for small business in the North.
However, if all fails and these laws come into enactment, what will our government be prepared to do? If we find that these laws are going to somehow have detrimental effects on the small business community in the North, as a government, what next steps are we prepared to do to maybe mitigate some of those impacts? We certainly do not want to see our small business community start to decline. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Once we determine the impact of the new federal tax, recognizing that a federal election is coming in 2019 so I expect there will be something in 2018, once we know what the effect of this new federal tax will be on small businesses, the Government of the Northwest Territories can look at what appropriate actions we can take.
As everybody knows, as a government, we already support small businesses through a number of economic development programs. We will continue to do so. If there are negative impacts, we will certainly prepare to look at them to see how we can continue to have small business flourish in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
