Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is the last budget of this Assembly, and I just wanted to make a few comments about it. First of all, I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister, Mr. John Pollard, on introducing this budget to this House. I know he and his staff have worked hard to put this together. In this time of fiscal restraint, it is a very fine balance one has to take in delivering such a budget. I would just like to say, Mr. Speaker, that Mr. John Pollard has worked very well with the Standing Committee on Finance and with different Members of this House. I would like to say that he has been upfront and doesn't hold anything back from us. I appreciate that very much. He took all the concerns that we have very seriously. However, it took him a little while before he took SCOF's advice on the package approach. I think once he adopted it, it paid off some dividends.

I don't like a deficit budget, as well, Mr. Speaker. I much prefer a balanced budget, which I have said in the House on previous occasions. The reason for that is the danger it will place on future Legislative Assemblies. It also impacts on future generations. Once we have a deficit budget, it will be very easy to slip into a bigger deficit. In the Finance Minister's Budget Address, he mentions a $40 million figure. That can be compounded very quickly into a much bigger debt, so, there's a danger in that.

With division coming up in 1999, a deficit will create a major problem, especially if we have to divide the deficit. Beginning two new territories with deficits and diminished revenue will create major problems in the future.

With that in mind, the Standing Committee on Finance has recommended a balanced budget by March 31, 1998. Yes, it will be very difficult to do, I agree. In the federal budget speech yesterday, we were told that we are going to take a major hit, something like $58 million total -- $8 million this year, and $50 million in the future -- which puts us in a great deficit position already. With that in mind, I agree it will be a tough decision to make. Tough cuts must come from the leadership of the government.

I would like to make a recommendation. The Minister said publicly that he would meet with Cabinet tonight and with the Standing Committee on Finance tomorrow morning to give us more detail on what the federal budget's impact is. I would like to suggest to him to go further and establish a consultation strategy that would allow community leaders, aboriginal organizations, chambers of commerce, social agencies, municipal governments and other people to become involved in our fiscal planning.

I say this, Mr. Speaker, because in my community travels, I have been upfront with everybody about our source of revenue, how much revenue we get from Ottawa, how much we raise on our own in the form of taxes, general revenues, program financing and transfer payments. We know about all this. Once you talk about government, you are talking about money. You need money to run governments. The source of funding is key. If we don't have the money, then we can never provide the types of programs and services we are here to provide to the people who put us here.

It's important to be upfront with the people of the communities, not to hold anything back, and to get them involved in this process. I think it is going to be tough enough for the government on its own, or for all of the Members here in the Assembly, to decide where we should make cuts. I think people in the communities have heard we are going to be making cuts and I think they should be involved in some sort of consultation process. I would like to make that recommendation here to this government and specifically to the Minister of Finance.

Over the last couple of years, we've already taken a $49 million hit from the federal government, in the form of cutbacks to the housing program. So, we might be able to manage $58 million if we put our heads together and try to figure out how we can deal with it in the future.

In the Finance Minister's Budget Address, he made a comment that the economy is well and that it has grown over the past years. I'm certain that it will grow even bigger in the future with the diamond mines that are potentially going to open in the north. We are going to have an opportunity to perhaps generate revenue from that. I applaud the Minister responsible for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, who is working hard to try to get the aboriginal organizations together on the northern accord so important resources are under the control of northerners. I think everybody who is at the table is sincere in their belief that important revenue resources should be controlled by northerners. People in the north have to control this. In the last few days when we have dealt with EM&PR, the Minister of that department commented that even if we get a northern accord, the control still remains in Ottawa. We have to do some work on that, as well.

We have been talking about a sustainable economy. I would like to get specific and talk about my constituency, Mr. Speaker; we have high potential for economic sustainability: tourism provides major income for my region. We have the Mackenzie Mountains, the Nahanni National Park and the surrounding area is equally as spectacular to tourists. The Nahanni Ram area is a world-class site. Tourism has been good in my area. People from all walks of life and countries have been there and many more want to come so it is a very important resource for us. In the budget, I noticed that there is a huge cut in the area of tourism and marketing. Over $1.5 million has been cut and I'm very concerned about the kind of impact this will have on the tourist potential in my area and in other areas in the north, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to also comment on big-game hunting, which is in my area, as well as right down the western part of the Northwest Territories in the Mackenzie Mountains. We have a lot of game there and there are big-game hunters who operate out of that zone. I certainly would like the government to look at that to see if people in the north, specifically people in the communities closest to these zones, would have opportunities to gain access to big-game outfitting in that area. Here, big dollars are spent. I think this is the only place in North America, where big game is hunted quite freely. In other parts of North America there are a lot of restrictions and people who come into that area have to pay a large sum of money to operate out of there so I'd like to see some real close investigation into this area to see if we could gain access to that important income for my area.

There's logging that is beginning in my area as well, Mr. Speaker. In Fort Liard, there were some test cuts and they were experimenting on what type of logging will be best suited for my area. As you know, in the Liard area we have a lot of forests with big trees and there's real potential there. With the high price of lumber, there's a good opportunity for people in that area to develop sustainable types of economies with the logging, as well as the potential for a sawmill in that area. With the increase in the stumpage fees, I have a problem with that because even now the people who cut wood for a living in my area as well as your area, Mr. Speaker, have a difficult time with the stumpage fees and with an increase in that and, especially for the fledgling logging economy, it's going to have a very big impact on them. Instead of charging them more to cut the trees, they should be encouraged to develop this new type of economy that has big potential in the north.

(Microphone turned off)

I have a problem with reforestation because if you go to my area, you have the trees that just grow naturally; you don't need to plant them so there's no cost in that.

Mr. Speaker, another area that I would like to touch on is where we are today; this government has changed quite a bit since our term began. This is the last time that we will meet here to talk about the budget. There's been amalgamation, there's been downsizing, and there have been a lot of different types of initiatives that the government has done to date. I would like to commend the government for that. I think they've made some very tough decisions and some very hard decisions to try to make the government more efficient and more effective.

We're here, Mr. Speaker, to provide programs and services to the people in the communities and one way of doing it is to try to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. I think the government has achieved some of that by amalgamation and downsizing. This amalgamation and downsizing was as a result of the previous government's Beatty report. That was transition planning. One of the recommendations that the Standing Committee on Finance made is "...this government and this Assembly develop some transition plans for the new government that will be coming into place." There are a lot of initiatives that this government is working on such as in Mr. Nerysoo's job, where the Finance Minister mentioned that he has a lot of work to be done in terms of the northern accord, oil and gas, the minerals, potential diamond mines; we have a lot of things on the go here and if we don't have a plan in place for the next government, whoever gets elected and sits here next year, they're going to have a difficult time starting from scratch. The recommendation from the Standing Committee on Finance is intended to help whoever will be sitting in these Chambers, whoever is going to be in the government, and mainly for the people of the Northwest Territories who we're here to provide programs and services for.

We should be thinking ahead because we have a younger generation coming up and we're trying to make life good for everybody in the north, not only today while we're elected but in the future as well. With that, I would like to say that this is a good resolution that came from the Standing Committee on Finance for looking into the future.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to once again congratulate the Minister of Finance for his budget report. I really appreciate working with him as the chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 10, replies to budget address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to table Tabled Document 38-12(7), a letter from the Coppermine HTA-Webb Ltd. to our Minister of Justice, outlining their concerns regarding the proposed federal gun control legislation. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 14, tabling of documents. Item 15, notices of motion. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March 2, 1995, I will move the following motion:

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River, that this Legislative Assembly request the Governor in Council to dissolve the 12th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories by August 31, 1995 to permit a general election to be held on October 16, 1995.

Mahsi.

Thank you. Item 15, notices of motion. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motions for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters: Bill 1, Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1995-96; Committee Report 2-12(7), Report on the Legislative Action Paper on the Office of Ombudsman for the Northwest Territories; Committee Report 3-12(7), Report on the Review of the Legislative Action Paper Proposing New Heritage Legislation for the Northwest Territories; and, Committee Report 4-12(7), Report on the Review of the 1995-96 Main Estimates, with Mr. Lewis in the chair.

I would like to call the committee to order. What would the committee like to do this afternoon? Mr. Dent.

Thank you very much, Mr. Dent. Does the committee agree that we deal with Bill 1 and Committee Report 4-12(7), specifically to deal with the Department of Transportation?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Department Of Transportation

Mr. Todd, would you like to make some opening remarks on this department?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I would. I would suggest to the honourable Member that if his comments are as short as mine, we will definitely will get through the budget.

Minister's Introductory Remarks

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Legislative Assembly, you have before you today the Department of Transportation's proposed O and M budget for 1995-96.

As the Members look through the budget proposals, I am sure they will appreciate that this has not been an easy budget to prepare.

The Department of Transportation's O and M budget for 1995-96 comes to $46.5 million. This is a reduction of $1 million from the 1994-95 budget of $47.5 million.

Preparing this budget has been more than a budget reduction exercise. Not only is the budget $1 million less than last year, it also includes $1.4 million in forced growth expenditures arising from the department's capital program. As new money is not available to cover these expenditures, the department has...

(Microphone turned off)

Mr. Chairman, I apologize, I was trying to get through them quickly to allow Mr. Dent the opportunity to speak.

It also includes $1.4 million in forced growth expenditures arising from the department's capital program. As new money is not available to cover these expenditures, the department has had to re-examine its operations across the board for new ways of reducing program expenditures. The budget amounts to a reorganization of the way the department delivers its programs with the least disruption in transportation services. In the airports program, for instance, the duties and responsibilities of operational positions have been redistributed to make better use of the department's labour expenditures. In the highways program, the department aims to achieve economies by adjusting maintenance standards more in line with traffic demand.

Most of the forced growth expenditures are in the airports program. New airports have come on line in Lutsel K'e and Snare Lake. New or renovated air terminal buildings have opened in Igloolik, Pangnirtung, Paulatuk and Tuktoyaktuk. Runway extensions were completed at Coppermine and Pelly Bay and are now in operation. The Baker Lake training centre opened this year for the training of northern airport maintainers and managers. The budget allocated $255,000 for the centre's ongoing operation. Community wharves also require periodic maintenance expenditures. Maintenance work is planned in 1995-96 for the community wharves at Baker Lake, Arviat, Sanikiluaq, Gjoa Haven, Chesterfield Inlet and Broughton Island.

Even though the Department of Transportation plans to reduce its total spending in 1995-96 by $1 million, the budget does include $90,000 for one new spending initiative: the department will introduce a public awareness and road safety program this year. Working with the schools and the RCMP, the department aims to improve seat belt and child restraint usage and to reduce the incidence of impaired driving on our roads and highways. Traffic safety is too important to rely on law enforcement measures alone. A public education component is necessary if we want to travel our highways in safety. Even when we have to reduce our spending, improved motor vehicle safety remains a worthwhile expenditure.

In summary, Mr. Chairman, I am asking for the Assembly's support for the Department of Transportation's 1995-96 proposed O and M budget. I think this budget makes the best fit possible between our financial circumstances and our need to maintain efficient transportation services.

Thank you very much, Mr. Todd. Committee report for the Standing Committee on Finance.

Standing Committee On Finance Comments

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. The committee was generally pleased with the Department of Transportation's presentation.

Highway Maintenance

In order to focus efforts and resources on social programs, the government has had to take funds away from other areas. One of these areas was highway maintenance. Northern residents who travel the highways have come to expect a high level of maintenance. Some committee Members have heard concerns from constituents regarding the reduced level of highway maintenance.

Given the current financial picture, the committee understands that there must be a decrease in one program if another is to increase. However, the committee still expects the department to ensure a level of maintenance which will guarantee public safety on the roads. The highways of the Northwest Territories are heavily used, both by individuals travelling from community to community, or for the transportation of many of the goods consumed by northerners. Significant levels of maintenance are still necessary to maintain these roads in the difficult conditions of the north. Committee Members expect that the department will use its reduced resources wisely in order to keep NWT highways in a safe condition.

Flight Service Stations

The federal government has announced its intention to shut down most flight service stations in the north, replacing them with service from remote stations. Committee Members are very concerned about this proposal, particularly after serious problems with the automatic weather observation systems, AWOS, were noted in a trial run in November and December at Cambridge Bay. In the north, the weather conditions can be extreme and unpredictable, changing very quickly. Without someone on site to look outside and assess the weather, planes will have to commit to a landing without complete confidence in the safety of the weather conditions. In most communities, there isn't another airstrip nearby as back-up if the weather isn't what the pilot was expecting.

That concludes the Standing Committee on Finance review. Mr. Todd, do you want to deal with this from your seat or do you need to bring in some help?

I think it would be prudent of me to ask for some assistance in the budget, Mr. Chairman.

The Minister would like to bring in witnesses to the Chamber. Does the committee agree with that?

Agreed.

---Agreed