Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the past 18 months we have struggled to address the fiscal problems facing us. Most Members of this House believe that you should not spend more than you have. I agreed with this when I was elected and I still believe that it is a sound philosophy now. As people worry about how bad things are, I want to remind everyone of how much better off we are than most other jurisdictions.

Mr. Speaker, across Canada, governments have been cutting programs and downsizing trying to bring their spending under control. Seldom is there a day that goes past that we do not hear a story from one province or another about facility closures or program reductions. Unlike our southern counterparts, we are not spending a big chunk of our budget paying interest for our debts. The amount other places spend in interest to service their debt is scary. For example, Nova Scotia has a budget of $4.5 billion. They spend almost 20 percent of that on interest payments. Prince Edward Island, the smallest province in Canada spends 15 percent or $121 million of their $800 million budget on interest. Last year this government spent under $3 million on interest costs. Other jurisdictions have had to slash their capital budget to bring costs down. New Brunswick put a freeze on any new capital projects, while Nova Scotia cut their capital spending by 44 percent.

While we have had to make some reductions in capital, we have managed to keep the majority of our capital in place. Yes, we have had a difficult couple of years here in the NWT, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The contributions of all the people of the Northwest Territories have put us in good shape for the years to come.

Not only have we cut, but we have also introduced initiatives designed to start addressing the cause of some of our social problems. We would take comfort that we took control of our fiscal situation before it ran away on us.

Unlike the provinces, we do not have to give our dollars to the banks and interest payments. In years to come, we can focus our energy and dollars on making a better life for all the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause