Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today and formally welcome Members back to the House after the summer recess. I would like to take this opportunity to provide the Members with more details on the fiscal position of the Government of the Northwest Territories and several of the key issues that the Premier addressed in his sessional statement yesterday.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House that we are on course to meet or exceed the deficit reduction targets established in our fiscal recovery plan. Last winter, the government anticipated an annual deficit for 1996-97 of $38 million. With our books for last year now closed, we can report that the deficit dropped to $12 million. While this result is subject to final audit, this reduced 1996-97 deficit means our accumulated deficit rose to only $41 million rather than the $65 million we forecast.
Mr. Speaker, in last February's Budget Address, I announced that this government would balance its budget for the first time in four years. Preliminary figures for the year indicate that we are on course to meet our target with a small surplus of $9 million. This small surplus will be applied against our accumulated deficit.
Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that our fiscal recovery would not have been reached without the co-operation and commitment of all Members of this House. I want to thank them for that. However, I also want to stress that while these forecasts are indeed encouraging, it is important that we all recognize the need to remain vigilant and stay the course with our fiscal recovery plan to ensure that we leave the emerging new governments of Nunavut and the Western Territory and future generations with the fiscal stability that results from a balanced budget.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories, I would like to state that this Government is fully committed to the principle of pay equity, and is determined to negotiate a resolution to the issue. We are currently meeting with the Union of Northern Workers to identify issues that can be resolved through negotiations. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of implementing a new gender-neutral job evaluation system and I am confident with the support of the UNW that we will finalize the implementation of this system.
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated many times in this House, it is the preference of the Government of the Northwest Territories to find a negotiated resolution to this matter with the Union of Northern Workers. However, it would be remiss of me if I did not stress that it is incumbent on this government to ensure the settlement we make is affordable and does not result in further large-scale program or position reductions; clearly that is not our desire.
Mr. Speaker, while it is important that we remain vigilant in our efforts on the debt reduction side, it is important that we balance this with investments in key program areas in the social and economic development envelopes. Mr. Speaker, Members of this House have noted on many occasions the importance of ensuring that we continue to deliver essential program such as health and social services to our residents. It was for this reason that funding for the social envelope was maintained and, in fact, increased while all other program areas underwent significant budget reductions over the past two years.
As a further step, Mr. Speaker, we have recently identified $4 million to reinvest into our health care system to target strategic reinvestments towards long term health care of our residents. My colleague, the Honourable Kelvin Ng, will be providing more details on this funding later during the session.
Mr. Speaker, during the last session, Members will recall that I announced a reinvestment of $16 million in a Northern Employment Strategy designed to stimulate economic development and job creation in our northern communities. Mr. Speaker, while this strategy was only launched several months ago and departments are still at the implementation stage for a number of the programs, I am pleased to provide this House with a progress report on the results of the strategy to date.
- A total of 46,000 work weeks of employment have been stimulated, this is the equivalent of 1,150 full time jobs;
- Over $9 million has been invested through equity and partnership contributions towards projects;
- Over $6 million in debt financing programs has been provided to the private sector to finance business expansion projects that stimulate economic growth in our communities; and
- As a result of our financial support to employers to hire summer students and youth, over 807 young people have been provided with employment opportunities this summer.
Mr. Speaker, the Northern Employment Strategy represents a significant shift in how this government approaches economic development and job creation. It focuses on developing co-ordinated approaches to economic development in creative partnership with the private sector, communities and regional based organizations.
I would like to congratulate my colleagues, the Honourable Charles Dent, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi, Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and the Honourable Manitok Thompson, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs as well as all Members of this House for their efforts in making this program a success.
Mr. Speaker, as the Premier has stated on many occasions, the development of our non-renewable resource sector represents our single most important opportunity for sustainable economic growth in the Northwest Territories. With this said, we are on the brink of the most significant period of non-renewable resource development in the history of the Northwest Territories with the development of one and perhaps more diamond mines over the next decade. Mr. Speaker, finding ways to maximize the employment and business opportunities resulting from the development of northern diamonds remains one of the key priorities of this government. The first step in the process was the negotiation of a socio-economic agreement with BHP for both the construction and operational phases of this project. The second step is ensuring that the north maximize its economic potential from the production of northern diamonds. Mr. Speaker, the one aspect of this economic potential that has received the most debate is the extent to which valuation and sorting is done in the Northwest Territories. As the Premier stated yesterday, the position of the Northwest Territories with respect to this issue is clear and unequivocal.
It is the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories:
- that diamonds mined in the Northwest Territories must be valued and sorted in a manner that provides an accurate value for royalty and taxation purposes and maximize the economic potential for the Northwest Territories;
- that the sorting and valuation facility or facilities must be located in an NWT community, off the mine site; and that potential NWT manufacturers be given the opportunity to purchase diamond 'rough' to maximize the economic potential for value added industries in the north.
Mr. Speaker, as Northerners we have a responsibility to ensure that when the federal government develops public policy on North America's first major diamond mine that it reflects the constituency we represent and ensures that all Canadians benefit from this development. Mr. Speaker, while the issue of valuation and sorting of northern diamonds is of great importance to this government, equally important is how taxation and royalty revenues from the production of northern diamonds are shared between the federal and territorial governments. Mr. Speaker, it is the position of this government that the revenues raised from the production of northern diamonds must be equitably shared with the people of the Northwest Territories. Revenues that will help reduce our reliance on the federal government and assist in the development of a strong and vibrant economy.
Mr. Speaker, we are not asking the federal government for more money, we are only asking as other Canadians are, like Mr. Tobin in Newfoundland, for a fair share of the new incremental revenues that this dynamic industry will bring. Mr. Speaker, it is important to emphasize that should we be unable to negotiate an equitable revenue sharing arrangement with the federal government, we will have to pursue alternative options for revenue generation from diamond production. My department is currently working on a paper to review these options, including but not limited to the introduction of new taxation measures.
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi and I will be meeting with the federal Ministers of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Finance later this month and we intend to press our position concerning both revenue sharing and the valuation and sorting of northern diamonds at that time. I will keep all Members apprised of the results of these discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause