Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am overjoyed to have a renewed call from this side of the House to lower small business taxes. This is an issue that I have raised, holding the government accountable to its mandate commitment to do exactly that, each and every sitting. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance today: I didn't notice a decrease to small business taxes in the budget; when does he intend to fulfill that mandate commitment? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
I knew that it was coming, Mr. Speaker. At the moment, we are not planning on decreasing the small business tax. Thank you.
Why is there no plan? The mandate clearly says, "This government will reduce taxes on small businesses." Why?
The mandate also has 234 other items besides this one particular one. We have made progress on a number of those items, and we will continue to do so. However, this is not one of the ones that we have treated as a priority at the moment. I have said before, and I will say in the House again, that our plan is not to decrease the corporate tax.
The Minister knows, as do all Members of this House, that the mandate is a shared responsibility on both sides of the House. The Minister has an obligation to listen to this side of the House. Will he reconsider the political position that he has taken and make this a priority?
I have been a Member of this Legislative Assembly for 14 years, and I think that that is because I have demonstrated an ability to listen to people, take people's advice, and bring their issues forward. We have 235 items on the mandate, a little too big, in my opinion, and I think that part of the advice that we should provide to the next Assembly coming in is to lower the number of mandate items and get to one that is workable. We have done that in the past. It has been successful. That doesn't mean that we are not doing our job in fulfilling a lot of the mandate commitments. We continue to work on them as the everyday business of the Government of the Northwest Territories. This is one of those items that, although it was in brochures and it will continue to be in pamphlet brochures come October 1st, it is not one that we are looking at lowering right now.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps it's not that the mandate is too big, it's that the Minister doesn't have the time to dedicate to all of the commitments under his responsibility. Maybe he should get some help. I am willing to help him. Other Members on this side are willing to help him. We can put forward this legislation. If this commitment isn't needed, the Minister said before that we provide plenty of support, what new support is coming to small businesses in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
I think that one of the reasons that I have lasted so long as a Member in this Legislative Assembly is my ability to work with all of the Members of the Legislative Assembly. I think that is clearly demonstrated. I do listen to the advice of Members, and there are times where somebody actually has to make a decision. We have made the decision that we are not looking at lowering the corporate tax at this particular time. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
