Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today as well to speak on the principle of the bill and frankly add something to the discussion, in addition to the comments from our learned colleagues.
For me, one of the issues is a question. Why is this Bill coming forward now? We have just started the business planning process. We soon will be moving into the budgetary process. Why is there such a big hurry to get this out ahead of the budgetary parade? The Minister indicated that people should be prepared to take some of the pain. I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that the people of the Northwest Territories are in fact hurting their loins to take some of the pain.
The question is the hand that the Finance Minister intends to stick into the taxpayers pocket will go in how many times? How deep and how much does it plan to extract over the course of the next number of months? In my opinion, Mr. Speaker, good government should only come forward once with the budgetary process, to lay out their revenues and expenditures and how they intend to in fact raise shortfalls if they are anticipated, such as this tax. The big question for me, Mr. Speaker, is what would be the cumulative affect of the budgetary process?
We have this proposed tax increase. We know that we are being hit with some of the largest fuel increases in history. It is going to affect transportation, cost of food and the cost of all of our programs. Those costs are all going to go up. The taxpayers, the residents of the Northwest Territories are going to be reeling from these costs. I do not think it is fair to them to stand up now and talk about this tax without putting the whole pie on the table so we could all see how much we are going to have to tighten our belts and what that is going to mean to every family in the Northwest Territories. That for me, Mr. Speaker, is a significant issue.
I too have questions about the numbers put forward by the Minister. The numbers in terms of the money being raised and the numbers in terms of hotel usage. However, I have learned from hard experience in this House in five years that invariably they are estimates. The numbers brought to us are estimates and invariably, there is a fudge factor. There is room for fudgification. There is room to slip and slide, shuck and jive, and that is another issue of concern for me. I want to be very clear that we have blue chip information. This government should be bringing forward that kind of information for us to make that kind of decision.
The fundamental issue for me is I, like my colleagues, am not necessarily opposed to putting more money to tourism. In fact, I think that is essential as well. However I, like my colleagues, have significant concerns. I do not think that it is fair to the people of the Northwest Territories to nickel and dime them to death, to stick the Finance Minister's hands repeatedly into every pocket the taxpayer may have. We should do it once as part of the broad strategy, so that when the Finance Minister does stick his hand into the taxpayer's pocket, they know how much he is going to extract and only once. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.