Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Todd began the Budget Address by saying that this was not business-as-usual budget as these were not usual times. But, Mr. Speaker, these could be the best of times or the worst of times; it wouldn't matter. As most governments across Canada and every provincial, federal and territorial jurisdiction knows, we now have to pay for the largesse of governments of the past.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is no different. I do not come here today to vilify or, for that matter, criticize the way Mr. Todd has handled his first budget. Some of the media have painted his budget as a business budget. I disagree. This budget is a budget that is trying to deal with, as I said earlier, the largesse of the past. Our fiscal situation is also compounded by a low revenue-generation level and by continuing federal transfer cuts. With the highest birthrate and the highest unemployment rates in the country, the jurisdiction of the GNWT has some major problems to deal with. When we combine this with the division of the Territories on April 1, 1999, a casual observer can see that these are not ordinary times.