Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are on the northern resident travel deduction for the Minister of Finance. And, Mr. Speaker, depending on the answers, I might be able to give the Minister a new portfolio, the Minister of Dragon Slaying.
So can the Minister tell us whether she is aware of the discrepancies between the recently published Canada Revenue Agency figures and those published by Canadian North, the one carrier that maintains regular service from Yellowknife to Edmonton? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very motivated now to answer these questions the right way. Mr. Speaker, I certainly am aware of the recently published guidelines and certainly aware that there are some discrepancies around that. One thing that I want to note, Mr. Speaker, it's been alerted to me by the department actually that this is a pilot project, and I hope that's going to give me some openings to give some positive responses of where we might go, because pilot projects mean that they are ripe for some change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I could probably make a pun there about pilots and planes and tax deductions. I won't go there, Mr. Speaker, but when I raised this issue of the lack of figures for the lowest northern airfare from CRA, our Minister of Finance committed to talk to her territorial colleagues in the Yukon and Nunavut in February 2021. So can the Minister confirm whether those discussions ever took place and whether there was any followup action? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a point of frustration for many residents and certainly for not only the MLA but me as well. And I can confirm that I discussed this with my other territorial finance colleagues, that we did jointly raise the issue. I'd like to think in fact that that may be why there is now a pilot project, is that we have finally raised issue to a place that it received the attention that it required. Now, that doesn't mean that those to whom we raised it get it right the first time but, again, Mr. Speaker, we will be certainly following up again, and finance officials will be speaking with their folks their colleagues in the federal department, raising with them the challenges we are seeing and hopefully getting the pilot right before it becomes a final project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I described this longstanding problem as a dragon that has been around since 1987 where Northerners have been subjected to unnecessary, and in some cases unfair, audits. So can the Minister tell us whether she has written a letter with other finance Ministers from northern territories on this, and if so, could she table that letter in the House? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, prior to the release of Budget 2022 by the federal government, the three territories did write on some shared priorities. I would be certainly happy to share that with my colleagues. I can't share letters penned by others without their confirmation but certainly can go to MLAs. With respect specifically to the issue around the airfares, whether it was in that letter or another, I will double check. Whether we raised directly at the finance Ministers', I can confirm with my notes.
With respect to this pilot project, again I am happy to look again at whether or not this is something we want to bring to the level of being raised on its own. I suspect there is a few issues that we may want to raise but I certainly can look to doing that. Again, Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to overemphasize the fact of it being a pilot project. I only want to emphasize that this is a time where if the project's not working, if the way that they are doing now is not working, it's an opportunity for residents to provide feedback, whether that's direct to the federal government or to an MLA who may want to pass that on through to the federal government, to our MP, probably best place to raise that. You know, certainly I would think they want to get this right. I have sympathy, the airline prices change but they have gotten this far, let's get them them over the line to be that much better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. No, there's a lot of good stuff there. I get her passion on this, and I too want us to get over the finish line.
But there's one other outstanding issue when it comes to northern residents tax deduction. It's the lack of indexing of the northern, the residency amount. I believe it has only ever been raised once in 36 years. So can the Minister tell us what has been done to fix this problem for northern taxpayers? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Member and I are in full agreement on this particular issue. It's true. Mr. Speaker, this is a bee in our bonnet. I have asked about this one as well. I have certainly raised this one. I know certainly at the table, if not in letters or both. I was able to confirm with our department, indexing has not gone, even though not indexed, the deduction amount went up 1991, 2008, 2016, but incrementally increasing it in this way is not effective, it is not reflective, it doesn't keep up with inflation. I think I am certainly, again, preaching to the choir here with respect to this question. The challenge I am running into is that it is a national program. The northern residents deduction is not only for territorial residents, it is not only for the Northwest Territories, it does impact the situation facing northern residents in provinces. And while I don't have a crystal ball into what happens with the federal government, it is our sense that that is creating perhaps some of their challenge. I don't think we are done with this. I don't think it is not worth raising. It has such a tremendous impact on the territories as an attractive feature for us, as a way to increase labour market residents, so many reasons. So I am not done with it, Mr. Speaker. Just haven't quite solved this one yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
