Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to reply to the budget address of the government. The government, the Legislative Assembly, and the people of the north are caught up in an extended period of rapid change and evolution. We have to deal with the very complex issues of division, self-government, and of a federal government that is broke. It is within this context that this government has brought down their capital budget for this year.
First of all, I, too, would like to thank the Finance Minister for his fine work over the last three years. He has tried to do an impossible task of keeping this government in the red when so many issues out of the control of this government are forcing the budget and the actions of this government. I think, if you look at the Finance Minister's record over the last three years, that he's done a very good job. I think he has done as good a job as could have been done.
He's involved in very difficult negotiations now with the federal government. I think the federal government has signalled their intent. They are hundreds of billions of dollars in debt and Paul Martin, over the next two years, is going to be bringing forth some very harsh measures; measures that I think we all have to acknowledge that he's going to have to bring forth. We, in the north, are going to be impacted by those harsh measures.
We've already seen the opening shots across our bow, with reductions in funding for social housing, with the health billings dispute, and proposed cuts to aboriginal funding. I know the negotiations on formula financing are very, very tough. There is no doubt in my mind that the federal government negotiators have a mandate to cut the funding we have. The Finance Minister and the government have a very tough task cut out for them to negotiate a sound fiscal base for this government and for the people of the north, as we come into the era of division.
What all this means to me is that we, in the Northwest Territories, are going to be forced to rethink how we do business in the Northwest Territories, and how we work together. I think we are going to have to have a hard look at how public government and self-government can work together. There may be some that disagree with me, but I don't think there will be enough money in the future for five or six independent governments in the Northwest Territories. That won't happen. I think what we have to look at is a realistic, pragmatic way to ensure that aboriginal groups and regional groups who have very legitimate aspirations about self-government are able to finalize those approaches, but within an overall framework of a central government and a public government.
I, for one, think that there are enough pragmatic people in the Northwest Territories that at the end of the day, there is going to be a middle ground. At the end of the day, there will be a way to use the strengths of a central public government, along with the regional strengths and self-government initiatives. I think the process in the western Arctic now, though it is frustrating to a lot of people, is one that, at the end of the day, will bear some fruit. I don't think we can afford to rush this issue.
I think those groups who are pursuing treaty objectives should be given the opportunity to pursue those objectives. They are legitimate objectives. I think people have to recognize that the right to pursue self-government agreements is a right that is found in the Constitution of Canada. It is something that aboriginal groups have every right to do. I think we have to respect that.