The fourth priority the 14th Assembly has set is to secure "adequate resources to help all levels of government to become more self-reliant in meeting the needs of the people they serve." This is key to achieving the Assembly's vision of "a strong, unified and self-reliant Northwest Territories that can take its rightful place in the federation and the international community". Mr. Speaker, for the first time in our history, we are poised to achieve that vision, and to become the first "have" territory in Canada.
New resource development in the Northwest Territories has the potential to provide as much as $90 billion in royalties and tax revenues for government over the life of the developments, most of which will flow to the federal government. Funds from resource development have the potential to help finance needed investment in infrastructure and growing costs in the social area.
The three territories are the only jurisdictions in Canada which still do not have complete control over their non-renewable resources. Virtually all of the mineral and oil and gas royalties generated in the Northwest Territories currently go to the federal government. As well, about 80 percent of the Northwest Territories tax revenues generated by resource development reduce the grant from Canada. As a result, the Government of the Northwest Territories does not have the money required to fund the infrastructure necessary for the new development or to mitigate the social impacts of development.
Steps need to be taken immediately to ensure that these funds flow to the governments, both the Government of the Northwest Territories and the aboriginal governments, that have the responsibility for providing services to the people of the North. Devolution of both control over development and the revenue from natural resources needs to happen to provide the residents of the Northwest Territories advantages equal to those enjoyed by residents of the provinces.
Investments needed to take full advantage of development, such as the investments made in secondary diamond processing, have been primarily funded by the Government of the Northwest Territories. This has resulted in higher deficits and fewer resources over the short term for other programs. The Northwest Territories does not have the capacity to make these proactive investments alone. We need to act now to ensure that the revenues from resource development in the North go to northern governments to provide needed investments and services for northern residents.
Northern control over resources will allow Northerners to take better advantage of our non-renewable resources, ensuring that development occurs when northern residents are able to take maximum advantage of it. Control will allow us to ensure that more processing occurs in the North, and that there are more employment opportunities for Northerners. Control will also allow us to bring clarity and certainty to the regulatory and fiscal regimes. If northern governments have full control over all our resources and diamond, oil and gas developments proceed, the Northwest Territories could become a "have" territory over the next ten years.