Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I can, I would just like to make a couple of comments. First of all, it is a tradition that the Minister of Finance wears new shoes as he makes the budget address. I just want to point out that I have chosen a particular kind of footwear for mine. These are work boots, because I think a lot of our efforts over the next year have to be aimed at employment, getting people ready for employment and ensuring people have jobs.

I also want to point out that the boots are made in Canada. That is important. We want Canada's help, we need Canada's help and we support Canada's manufacturing industry.

-- Applause

They are Kodiak boots. They have the same sort of motto as we do. We build our reputation on quality.

-- Laughter

They have steel toes. Stepping on my toes will not hurt.

-- Laughter

They are also electric-shock resistant and I think, particularly as we look at our hydro potential, it is important that I have these on as we inspect various sites.

Today, I am also wearing a yellow rose. Yellow signifies the east. It is the colour of the rising sun and we certainly will have our day. It is also the official flower of Texas, and I sincerely believe that we are going to be the Texas of the North soon.

-- Applause

Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk today about the bright future that lies before us as residents of the Northwest Territories. I am going to describe our tremendous economic potential. I am going to speak about what we as Northerners must do to realize this potential -- not just for ourselves, but more importantly for our children and grandchildren.

This Legislature includes in its vision of a better tomorrow "self-reliant, healthy, well educated individuals, families and communities doing their part in improving the quality of their lives." To achieve this, Northerners need meaningful, long-term employment and business opportunities. Governments need revenues to finance the education, health care and other key programs vital to our quality of life. To achieve this, we need a vibrant northern economy.

This government's first budget, as I noted last June, was the first step in achieving this Legislature's vision of a prosperous future for the Northwest Territories. As we promised, we used our first year in office to finalize our strategies and to determine how they could be financed. We also listened to the suggestions and concerns of the Members of this Assembly.

As we enter the second year of our mandate, we know what needs to be done:

• • We need to match every Northerner who wants to work with a job that uses his or her skills. There will be plenty of jobs over the next decade. We need to ensure that Northerners can fill these jobs;
• • We need to start our children off in life on the right foot. We need to see they get every opportunity to lead fulfilling and productive lives;
• • We need to work together with aboriginal governments, the federal government and with industry to ensure our future prosperity;
• • We need to take control of and develop our resources. We need to invest in our economy and infrastructure. We need to create business and employment opportunities for Northerners, while being mindful of the need to protect our environment; and
• • We need to invest today in a better tomorrow.

Our Premier, the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi, laid out the vision in his address in January. This budget sets out how it will be implemented.

We will use all the resources at our disposal to achieve our vision. I am very pleased to be able to announce that our fiscal situation is brighter than we expected at this time last year. However, we do not have the fiscal resources to do everything that needs to be done. Some initiatives cannot proceed without support from the federal government. Until non-renewable resource revenues are transferred from the federal government to northern governments, there will continue to be a gap between what needs to be done and our ability to do it.