Mr. Chairman, I am having problems with this whole question of decentralization. I am not to sure how I should be dealing with this, if I should be putting a motion forward at this time or not. A lot of money is being requested, I do not know the total amount, is it $10 million? This is to implement this decentralization plan. Mr. Chairman, I do not have too much against decentralizing. I support the initiative to decentralize, but not the communities to which the government is decentralizing. The five regions, Inuvik, Rankin, Iqaluit, Fort Smith and there is one that is the exception, Fort Simpson, which is not a regional centre.
These areas, Mr. Chairman, do not have a sluggish economy, as the Government Leader indicated in the statement that she made in this House. She said, "The decentralization program would assist in developing those centres which are more severely impacted by the sluggish economy. " Mr. Chairman, a number of Members in this House, for instance my friend from Kitikmeot and my other friend, Mr. Arngna'naaq, and other Members on this side of the House, have risen on a number of occasions saying that those communities that are selected are not that much worse off than our constituencies. Look at Mr. Arngna'naaq's riding, Rankin is their regional centre. The government is proposing to move 33 PYs over there. I use that as an example. That is why my friend Mr. Arngna'naaq has been saying that he has no problem with this decentralizing either, except that it is going to the wrong places. The rationale given to us by this government does not persuade me or my other colleagues. It does to some Members who represent those communities selected, like Iqaluit, Inuvik, Rankin Inlet, and others. For those reasons, those Members like myself have concern.
The economy of those areas is worse than those five communities that were selected by this government. Time and time again, I have rattled off statistics and reports. All types of information that our own government produces I have brought to this House so that the Members from that side of the House would understand what I am trying to say. Our economy, in our small communities, is worse than in those five communities that this government selected to decentralize to. I still do not understand why those particular regional centres were selected when they are not hurting nearly as much as other communities. That is why I have been raising this concern with the Government Leader, with the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism and others on that side of the House, telling them that the economy in some of our small communities is worse off. If you are going to decentralize, do it in the appropriate places where they are hurting, as the government and its own statistics indicate.
I am committed to decentralizing, but to the right places; not to the areas that are not as hurt as the small communities that we represent, like the Kitikmeot and Keewatin areas. They should have decentralized to the communities other than the regional centres. Then it would be more appropriate to say that their economy is sluggish. That is why they are moving those positions and programs over there. That is why I am having a problem approving money to do these things. On one hand, I am in support of decentralization. On the other hand, I am against it because they are moving it to the wrong communities. The Members representing those communities are not going to argue with the government or raise the same concerns as we are, because it is going to one of their communities.
In the Executive, they are all going to be supportive of one another because it is a government initiative. That is why I am having problems approving money on one hand to go to these particular communities and some money for headquarters to move all these programs and PYs out. I am hesitant to even approve money at this point in time, particularly to the decentralization program. I also ask to see the plan. How are they going to do things? How much is it going to cost us? They have not given us anything in this House. The example I used in Rankin Inlet, Mr. Chairman, of 33 PYs, is going to boost the community, but the community that they are boosting is not hurting as much as Baker Lake, Arviat, Whale Cove, or the others. It is going to create more opportunity for that particular community because it will require office space for 33 PYs. Mr. Chairman, the dilemma right now is to vote, abstain or vote against all the money the government is asking for in this whole area of decentralization. Mr. Bernhardt, Mr. Arngna'naaq, myself and other Members of this House indicated that they are not too happy with what the government is doing in the area of decentralization. It is all going to the wrong places. So I am reluctant, at this point, to even approve the money that the government is asking for. It is making it difficult for myself and a lot of other Members. Even the Members from Yellowknife have some concerns with regard to this whole initiative of this government. Mr. Chairman, I know I have said my piece now with regard to the money the government is asking for us to approve and I do not know if I will be supporting the money for the bill as a whole, but I will leave it at that for now.