Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the fourth and final budget for the 19th Assembly was delivered by the Finance Minister one week ago, on February 8, 2023. Overall, among the many issues we dealt with throughout this term includes the fragile fiscal situation that our government finds itself in right now. According to this year's budget, the Government of the Northwest Territories' total debt for 20232024 is $1.47 billion, which is not far from our territory's debt capacity of $1.8 billion, although I will acknowledge that for the first time in the life of this Assembly, the GNWT's debt has reduced since last year's budget. However, Madam Speaker, for several years that has not been the case as our territory's debt load has been steadily increasing year over year for the last ten years.
Not since the 17th Assembly has the NWT seen a reduction of its overall debt load. It must be stated, though, Madam Speaker, that the high amount of debt that the NWT has continued to accumulate is not because of spending of the 19th Assembly. No. Our debt has climbed to where it is today because of the decisions made of previous MLAs from previous Assemblies, which is the Legislative Assembly by extension, the people of the NWT must now pay for.
Let me be clear and more specific, Madam Speaker.
I believe our presentday budget restraints are largely due to the decisions of the former Finance Minister from the 17th Assembly, who also happens to be the former Member of Thebacha from that Assembly as well. I say this because it was the Finance Minister who signed off at the 11th hour on the contract for the new Stanton Hospital building, which is the elephant in the room. I say it is the elephant in the room, Madam Speaker, because it was that project that put the Government of the Northwest Territories hundreds of millions of dollars into debt. In fact, according to this budget, the Stanton Territorial Hospital project has a debt load of $120 million. What's worse is that at the end of the 30year lease with the new hospital, the government would spend over $1 billion on this P3 project.
On that note, Madam Speaker, another mistake made with the old hospital building, now known as the Legacy building, is the fact that officially the Government of the Northwest Territories still owns that building yet for some reason our government signed a 30year lease to rent that building to a thirdparty company, that's not even based in the Northwest Territories, called Dexterra. Why is that? Who made that decision? The answer is that the 30year lease was signed by the Minister of Finance in the 17th Assembly.
Based on all of this, Madam Speaker, I'd say the former Finance Minister from the 17th Assembly has a lot to answer for, since it was the Stanton Hospital project and other related decisions that put the Government of the Northwest Territories into a weakened financial position we're in now.
One other issue with this is that the opening of the newly renovated Stanton Legacy building has been delayed multiple times. First, it was supposed to open by summer of 2021. Then again by spring of 2022. And now they're saying by the summer of 2023. Moreover, Madam Speaker, there are several other issues that have occurred throughout this Assembly which I want to address now.
For example, in 2020 during the pandemic, the Department of Finance amended some of the liquor regulations to allow people to order liquor to be delivered to their homes. This was known as "dialabottle." I strongly disagreed with the decision at the time and I believe that was the wrong thing to do. To me, that decision was almost like government was encouraging our population to drink more alcohol. Those types of decisions have consequences which hurts vulnerable people the most.
Madam Speaker, another area the Government of the Northwest Territories needs to address is the disaster assistance policy, because the current policy is not sufficiently addressing the needs of the people of the NWT. As it's currently written, the disaster assistance policy is only applicable to people when a natural disaster occurs with damage so widespread that a significant number of people or properties are affected. There are holes in this policy and some residents have been falling through the cracks. People, like my constituent who endured a tornado that destroyed his home, are excluded from the disaster assistance policy because it only affected his property. So just because there is only one casualty from the disaster, does that make it okay? That is not fair and it is not right, and it needs to be fixed.
Madam Speaker, another area I have taken issue with is the onetime recruitment and retention bonuses that were given to a select number of health and social services staff. The issue with this is that these bonuses were not eligible to all health staff, only certain positions who perform certain duties within health and social services. The bonuses were not distributed evenly among staff, particularly longterm staff. In fact, I know of several nurses who have worked for the Government of the Northwest Territories for many years, some for nearly 20 years, yet they were not eligible to receive the retention bonus. There is something seriously wrong with that because it has created the unintended consequence of sowing division amongst new and old nursing staff. For our government to prioritize giving recruitment bonuses to brand new nurses, medical laboratory technologists and midwives, but not to longterm nurses who have lived and worked here for years, is not okay.
In addition, Madam Speaker, there is the issue of the exorbitant fee increases for residents who have cabins on land leases across the NWT. While this decision is another carryover from the previous Assembly, it is a decision that is affecting all leaseholders who renew their lease agreements and must pay the new $840 minimum cost with this. I have constituents, both Indigenous and nonIndigenous, who own cabins and they have told me these new costs do hurt. Many of these residents have asked to bring the Minister of Lands to my riding so they can discuss these changes with the Minister himself. I have tried numerous times now to coordinate a visit with the Minister, but it has not occurred yet. I am working on this with him, and he has committed to do a visit before the end of the Assembly, which I am looking forward to.
Madam Speaker, I also want to address a matter that is currently before this Assembly, and will be voted on very soon, which is the carbon tax. First of all, I want to be very clear that I am very much against this federallyimposed tax on carbon emissions. In fact, I've never been supportive of this tax since it was first introduced in 2018. And the reasons for my position are because this tax is harming regular people and businesses across the NWT. The final implication of this tax is burdensome for seniors, for families, and for businesses of all sizes, and the financial burden is only going to get worse as time goes on since the tax is going to increase every year until 2030. As leaders, we need to do what's best for the territory and the people we represent. So for those reasons, I will be voting against the carbon tax bill that will be voted on in this session.
Moreover, Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about the polytechnic university and the transformation process of Aurora College. First off, I want to thank the Minister of education, again, for reiterating several times now, throughout this Assembly, that the headquarters of the future polytechnic university will be in Fort Smith. My constituents are happy that Fort Smith will continue to be the education capital of the NWT. However, there are two Fort Smith based college positions that are currently being borrowed by the Yellowknife campus, both of which must be returned to Fort Smith as soon as possible. These are two senior management positions that were intended to be based in Fort Smith but for reasons beyond me, which I do not agree with, the positions are currently stationed in Yellowknife. So that is another area that needs to be adjusted by our government very soon.
Also, Madam Speaker, one other aspect about the college transformation that I do not agree with is the fact that our government is basing that process on a document that was written by a former assistant deputy minister of education who is now living in the Caribbean. Plus, that document, the Foundational Review of Aurora College, is from the 18th Assembly which is filled with old ideas and a hostile tone towards Fort Smith. Our government should not be following any reviews that do not make sense, nor ones that only favour further centralization to the capital.
Furthermore, Madam Speaker, I also take issue with how the Department of Finance has conducted the review of the affirmative action policy. Last week the GNWT announced its intention to replace the existing affirmative action policy with two new policies in its place, which the government has named the Indigenous employment policy and the employment equity policy.
The Indigenous employment policy mirrors the existing affirmative action policy, prioritizing the hiring of Dene, Inuit, and Metis people born in the NWT, which is good. However, Madam Speaker, the employment equity policy would give preferred hiring to Indigenous Canadians, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community and longterm Northerners. While there is some good in this second policy, such as providing preferred hiring to longterm Northerners, there are major aspects of it that I do not agree with. Specifically, I don't agree with providing preferred hiring to Indigenous Canadians atlarge. As I said in my statement last week, I have no issues with Indigenous Canadians who are not born in the NWT being employed by our public service. I just take issue with that group of people getting the same affirmative action status as the Dene, Inuit, and Metis people born in the NWT. In my view, these new policies do not resolve the issues with the affirmative action policy. It only widens the net for who qualifies as priority one hiring into our public service. Therefore, I call on all Indigenous leaders to reject these two policies and for them to make that known to both the Finance Minister and that department.
Madam Speaker, as we embark upon the final year of this term, I think this is an opportune time to also discuss some of the 19th Assembly's mandate items. For example, decentralization is a key mandate item for this Assembly yet most of the new jobs created over this term have gone to Yellowknife instead of the regional centres or small communities. This is a mandate item that must be improved upon and must continue to be pursued into the next Assembly.
Madam Speaker, another aspect of our term's mandate has to do with the price and type of electricity generated in the NWT. We said we would reduce the cost of power and increase the use of alternative and renewable energy, and similarly, that we invest in the expansion of the Taltson hydro dam. Well, we did not manage to reduce the costs of power this term; in fact, it has only gotten more expensive with each year. So we must continue to work on that into the future. As for the Taltson expansion, this government and the federal government have made several strategic investments to advance this project forward. While construction has not yet begun, pursuing this expansion would help the NWT succeed in our 2030 Energy Strategy. I am strongly in support of this mandate item, and I support the efforts of the Minister of Infrastructure with this undertaking. There are still some aspects of the project that need to be worked on with Indigenous governments so hopefully that work will conclude before the end of this Assembly.
Also, Madam Speaker, one point I want to make regarding the mandate item to create a polytechnic university is that the former residential school building, that is currently being used by Aurora College in Fort Smith, must be removed. That should be the first thing done to the new Fort Smith headquarters university campus. I also want to see in that future facility a universitysize gym, a theater for the arts, along with a new single residence, a modern cafeteria, and a student lounge. I also think the new building should have an Indigenous accent to it.
Additionally, Madam Speaker, another priority of this Assembly was to increase mental health and addiction programs, including aftercare. I have said several times through this term that a new territorial aftercare facility should be situated in Fort Smith because I believe that's an ideal location for it, and I think the former Trailcross Treatment Centre building would be a good location to consider this. I say this because I think placing an aftercare facility in a nonindustrialized location, that's not too far for the NWT residents to travel to but is far enough away from the familiar environments of peoples' addictions, can be very beneficial for our people.
Madam Speaker, enabling seniors to age in place with dignity is another priority of this Assembly, which I am unsure how we've done to address. Nonetheless, one suggestion to advance this item is exactly what I said in my statement yesterday, which is for Housing NWT to create and implement a seniors' housing strategy. As part of that strategy, we should implement a flatrate singlefixed cost system that determines the rent for seniors regardless of income level, race, or which part of the NWT they live. Doing this would help reduce the amount of rental arrears incurred by seniors and provide them with far more less financial stress. I think Housing NWT needs to lead these efforts and work in partnership with Indigenous governments and seniors' organizations to help craft an effective seniors' housing strategy.
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, I believe that this Assembly has succeeded in advancing several of the mandate items that we created at the beginning of the term. However, I think we all know that as MLAs, more work still needs to be done to help improve the quality of life for all the people of the NWT. And as the MLA for Thebacha, I will continue to fight to achieve the priorities that I outlined today. With that, I'd like to thank all the amazing constituents of Thebacha for their continued support in me as their representative. I also want to thank my family, including my husband Peter, my sons Gerry and Mickey, and my dog Rambo, for their steadfast support in whatever I do. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
