Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Northern Manufactured Products Policy provides incentives to support production within the NWT of goods purchased. But if the NWT is not making the effort to buy the products that the other arm is incentivizing, then the policy falls flat. Instead of manufacturing, innovating, and growing, northern manufacturers are setting up shop inside government departments to get their attention or in their inboxes to work through the application process.
Here in the NWT, the territorial government remains the most significant economic driver. And this government knows this, Mr. Speaker. In multiple budget addresses, we have heard this government reflect on the impact of its capital budget to the NWT economy and have incrementally passed the biggest capital budget the NWT has seen under the guise of northern benefit and pandemic recovery. But large projects are awarded to large companies who break down the work and shipyard it south void of the NWT's business incentive policies, our expectations of northern benefit outside of a completed project, and no teeth to hold winning bids to the northern benefit promises made to secure the project in the first place.
In addition to losing northern benefit through subcontracts, local manufacturers are also missing out in contracts valued under $25,000. And when so much of the potential market falls under this procurement threshold, much of the potential for manufacturing growth comes from each individual department.
The GNWT needs to identify local manufacturers across departments and coordinate when multiple departments need the same item. Coordinated purchasing reduces unit cost, drives labour needs, and allows for greater investment in business growth.
Mr. Speaker, in this government, local manufacturers were publicly praised for offering needed product and then left in dismay as product was ordered from outside the territory without giving them the opportunity to quote. We pass budgets that fund capacity building and innovation but then skip the part where the GNWT buys local, and this is not walking the talk.
At last count, over 165 people work for 18 companies in the NWT's manufacturing industry, but this is a far cry from our territory's potential and the GNWT holds the key to reaching it. Like all northern entrepreneurs, northern manufacturers want to invest in their businesses, expand markets, and grow our skilled workforce. That's why NWT businesses participated in this government's procurement review and the manufacturing strategy review of the 18th Assembly. The government knows the challenges, and now we need change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
