(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak briefly to this motion. My concerns have been raised in this House and in other places by those interested in the well-being of the people of the Northwest Territories. We all know the importance of federal government funding. We know that it is necessary to support many of the programs and services required in the north. We count on the assistance promised to us.
On December 2, 1992, the federal government announced a number of expenditure reduction measures. These were contained in the government's economic and fiscal statement. This statement was, in fact, a mini budget. The impact of the reductions to programs and services in the north are expected to be severe. While some programs will be exempt from these reductions, many of the important programs will be adversely affected.
The economic and fiscal statement contains three types of reductions. The first type of reduction is programs where benefits are frozen. This category includes reductions in unemployment insurance benefits. This will affect those people who voluntarily quit their jobs. Benefits to science and technology programs have been frozen. Benefits for certain aboriginal programs have been frozen. These programs have not been identified by the government.
The second type of reduction is grants and contributions which have been reduced by ten per cent. This category includes regional and industrial subsidies. It includes transportation studies as well as cultural subsidies being reduced by ten per cent. Grants and contributions and certain aboriginal programs have also been reduced by ten per cent.
The third type of reduction involves cuts to federal government operating budgets. This category includes wage freezes and operating budget reductions for federal government departments and Crown corporations. The impact of this category of reduction on the Northwest Territories will be felt by those receiving services directly from federal government departments and agencies.
The exact impact of all these reductions on Northwest Territories programs and services is very difficult to identify. Information from various federal government agencies has not been easy to acquire. Members of this Assembly know that the contribution amounts specified in the Canada-Northwest Territories cooperation agreement for French and aboriginal languages will be cut by ten per cent. The Government of the Northwest Territories has been left to work out how to make the required changes to its projects and programs.
Attempts have been made to determine what other cuts might be coming. The office of the Secretary of State in Ottawa was contacted. The office indicated that all Secretary of State contributions for all programs across the entire country will be reduced by ten per cent. The only exception to the ten per cent reduction are those programs supporting the disabled. Programs whose funding will be cut include: arts groups, aboriginal groups, and friendship centres. The national association of friendship centres has announced that the budget cuts could shove the organization back 15 years. This national organization provides financial assistance to the 115 friendship centres across the country.
Mr. Speaker, we find it disturbing that the federal government continues to cut the most essential and fundamental cultural and social community resources, yet they do so, at a time when the needs of the people continues to grow. We find it equally distressing that there seems to be no analysis of the impact of these cuts.
The office of the Secretary of State was not able to tell us which programs would be affected in the Northwest Territories, our own government, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Programs has identified three additional agreements which will be affected by these restraint measures.
The first agreement is the official languages in Education agreement. Approximately $1 million is contributed to the NWT under this agreement. These funds support the following programs: French language bursaries; core French and French immersion; training for French language teachers; and, French language courses for adults.
The second agreement is the Canada scholarship program in industry, science and technology. This agreement provides $20,000 for scholarships in technical education.
The third agreement provides support for the Arctic College literacy fund. The federal contribution for this fund is $250,000. The Government of the Northwest Territories entered into these agreements in good faith. We expect the federal government to live up to its responsibilities.
The federal government has also announced that the NWT regional office of industry, science and technology Canada will be closed. The decision to close this regional office was a departmental decision based on the December 2, 1992, economic statement. The specific programs which will be affected by the closure of the NWT regional office include: economic development, tourist information services, business information services and export promotion. The NWT regional office indicated that they hoped that the programs, previously delivered through the regional office will be delivered through other means. The means of delivering these programs are still being worked out by federal government officials.
Discussions are under way among federal government departments regarding the continued delivery of certain industry, science and technology programs. The federal government hopes to deliver some of these programs through the Yellowknife office of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. In particular, responsibility for the economic development program will be transferred to the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. Alternative means for the delivery of the remaining programs are still under investigation. All Department of Indian and Northern Affair's programs will be affected by the recently announced expenditure reduction measures.
The details of expenditure reductions and the impact on NWT programs and services are currently being worked out by the federal government. This information has not been made available to the people or the Government of the Northwest Territories. We, in the Northwest Territories, are trying to build a foundation, a foundation of economic, cultural and social well-being for our children and for all future generations. We thought that the federal government appreciated the importance of our efforts. I guess we were wrong in this assumption.
I encourage Members of this House to join me in condemning the Government of Canada for its apparent lack of consideration to the people of the Northwest Territories. I seek your support in urging the territorial Minister of Finance to find out how the federal expenditure reduction measures will affect people and groups in the Northwest Territories. I urge you to support this motion today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.