Mr. Speaker, the Premier spoke yesterday about the achievements members of this Legislative Assembly have made over the past twelve months in dealing with the fundamental challenges that it faced when it took office last November.
Primary amongst these challenges was the need to move quickly to put our fiscal house in order prior to division. Members of this Assembly were of the view that this was a priority, as we did not want to burden the two new territories with large accumulated deficits.
In September, I informed Members that we were on course to meet our targets of a $43 million deficit during the current year and a balanced budget in 1997/98.
Mr. Speaker, I remain confident that we will meet these targets, with the continued commitment of this Assembly to the budgetary reforms that we instituted at the beginning of our term. The Premier also noted in his Sessional Statement that the time remaining in the mandate of this Assembly is short and the challenges great. We must move to narrow the focus of our priorities to what we can realistically accomplish over the remaining 28 months of our mandate.
Mr. Speaker, the next and most pressing challenge for members of this Assembly is to move forward with the planning and implementation of division in the same decisive and conclusive manner. Simply put, division is only 28 months away, 854 days to be precise.
This Assembly has established a priority to have two fully functional governments on April 1, 1999. To accomplish this, decisions related to the implementation of two new governments must be made in the near term, and implementation must begin shortly thereafter.
These decisions are necessitated by the recent release of the Footprints 2, the second comprehensive report of the Nunavut Implementation Commission. This report addresses many of the major issues related to the establishment of Nunavut that were raised, or outstanding, after the release of the original NIC report.
Footprints 2 presents an updated organizational design and a more practical approach to staffing issues. It lays out, in much more detail, areas such as communications requirements, and addresses some previous gaps in program areas such as the administration of justice in Nunavut.
There remains, however, many fundamental issues that members will have to address in our preparation for division. The primary concern with the planning process is time. With just over two years to go until division, we must deal not only with the theory of division, but with the hard reality of establishing two new governments.
We need to conclude a comprehensive staff transition plan that will lessen the economic impact of division, encourage people to relocate, and allow for on-site training and preparation to occur.
We need to build headquarters and on-site capacity so that we can ensure that services and programs will continue to be delivered in a responsive fashion.
Mr. Speaker, there must also be a recognition that the transitional issue be revisited. There are a number of critical gaps in both the original funding for division, and the related scheduling. We cannot wait until April 1, 1998 to begin the hiring and the large amount of in-service training that is required.
The government of the Northwest Territories will be moving, in the near future, to begin the job of implementing the division of government functions that are required to have two fully functional territorial governments on April 1, 1999.
At the departmental level, division plans are now being prepared for incorporation into the business planning process over the next several months. It is important to note that members of this Legislative Assembly will have full opportunity to review these revised business plans through the committee process as soon as they become available.
Mr. Speaker, for a variety of reasons, Nunavut has proceeded at a quicker pace than the western arctic in the planning and preparation for division. The Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Political Accord establishes, in fairly clear terms, the process for the establishment of Nunavut and the role of the different parties to this process. No similar provisions exist for the Western Territory and, therefore, the process is less clear.
One of the primary concerns of this Assembly must be the timely development of a political process that ensures the people and key stakeholder groups in the western arctic are adequately represented in the division process. This is essential if the division process is to proceed effectively.
The development of this process is critical to resolution of issues that affect both new territories, such as the negotiation of financial arrangements, the negotiation of transitional and incremental costs of division and the division of assets and liabilities.
With respect to the negotiation of financial arrangements with the federal government, including the incremental and transitional costs of establishing two new territorial governments, it is vital that we move quickly if we are to conclude negotiations and provide the financial certainty that each new territory requires.
The federal Minister of Finance, the Honourable Paul Martin, has committed to developing a process by early 1997 that will ensure that the relevant issues are addressed in a timely manner.
Footprints 2 makes a number of recommendations on how negotiations should be structured with respect to these issues from a Nunavut perspective. We must move quickly to structure a similar process for the western arctic so that these discussions can begin in earnest.
Mr. Speaker, another issue of fundamental importance in this debate, and one that is directly related to the development of a process that will bring an east/west balance to the negotiation of the key financial issues, is the manner in which we deal with the issues of dispute.
While I am confident that the vast majority of issues can and will be resolved through mutual agreement, some consideration must be given to the adoption of an independent dispute resolution mechanism that deals with problem areas in a fair, equitable, and timely manner. We welcome input from all Members on how this can or should be structured.
The next step in the division process is the formal response of this government to the "Footprints 2". Given the time pressures associated with implementing the division process, the GNWT is committed to providing their formal response to the other parties by the end of the calendar year.
Mr. Speaker, the views of all members of this Assembly will be considered before the formal response to Footprints 2 is finalized and transmitted. This will be done through the discussions we will have in Committee of the Whole, through input from the Western and Nunavut Caucus' and through the Standing Committee on Government Operations.
Mr. Speaker, the challenges ahead are difficult. The job of planning and implementing division will require the collective effort and commitment of all members of this Assembly and all stakeholders. I believe that if we remain committed to the principles we established a year ago and if we continue, all of us, to remember that division is about creating two viable territories, we will, as the Premier is fond of saying, make April 1, 1999 a day to celebrate. It is time for this Assembly to get on with the job.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.