Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for DIAND for finally officially recognizing Iqaluit as the capital of Nunavut yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, I said in this House on March 28th, as one of the vocal critics of the deficit reduction plans announced by this government, that I would also have to give alternate suggestions to meet our fiscal challenges. Mr. Speaker, I said that when I returned to Iqaluit, I would hold a focus group to get ideas and solutions to help the GNWT with this very difficult deficit situation.

Mr. Speaker, the Iqaluit focus group was moderated by a well-known Iqaluit businessman Bob Hanson, representatives from the Iqaluit Chamber of Commerce, the municipality of Iqaluit, elders, the president and Secretary/treasurer surer of NTI, the president of the Baffin Regional Inuit Association, as well as government employees and community residents who took part.

Mr. Speaker, the Iqaluit focus group had ideas on deficit reduction strategies. Some of these included basing the capital budget on community needs and not wants; standing orders for goods and services should be based regionally and not territorially; and, eliminate duplication of programs and

services delivered by individual GNWT departments. These are just some of the deficit reduction strategies. The focus group also came up with revenue-generation ideas. These included that the GNWT should introduce a revamped tax structure to lure new money and companies to the NWT; develop a stronger base of export for our renewable resources; investigate other have-not areas of the country to see how they have moved away from dependence on federal transfers.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is not unique in its current deficit situation. We could learn something from other jurisdictions. Mr. Speaker, I will table the complete report of the focus group meeting later today in this House. I have also given a copy to the Minister of Finance who has reviewed it.

Mr. Speaker, the knock on this government is that decisions are being made behind closed doors. Mr. Speaker, the government has to get out and talk to the people of the NWT and be transparent in its dealings. The focus group is one way of accomplishing this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.