Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday afternoon I met with the Honourable Paul Martin, Minister of Finance for Canada, and the Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State for Children and Youth and Member of Parliament for the Western Arctic.
I am pleased to report that our meeting was very positive and very productive. Mr. Martin, Ms. Blondin-Andrew and I discussed a number of issues. We talked about the NWT's economic prospects and their positive implications for the Canadian economy. Mr. Martin was impressed with the activity that is taking place in the Northwest Territories. He also conveyed his compliments on this government's fiscal position and on what he felt was a sound budget plan.
We discussed the federal/territorial formula financing agreement and have come to an agreement regarding an outstanding technical issue. Finance officials will be finalizing the details as soon as possible. I am confident that this issue will be resolved to the benefit of the GNWT.
We discussed the need for the federal government to play a larger role in investing in and preparing for NWT economic growth and development. Mr. Martin has reviewed the GNWT's Non-Renewable Resource Development Strategy and says that he is impressed. He is prepared to support the initiatives it includes when they are brought forward through federal departments. He also recognizes the GNWT's commitment to move ahead on infrastructure developments. He has agreed to increase our borrowing limit to allow us to proceed with our proposed Highway Strategy. We have agreed that our officials will sit down together to work out the appropriate amount.
Finally, we discussed the need to transfer to NWT governments the responsibility for and the revenues from the NWT's non-renewable resources. He acknowledges the importance of this issue. Although DIAND is the lead federal department, Finance Canada has a major role to play in the discussion of revenue offsets and the formula financing agreement. Therefore, we have agreed to direct officials from our respective departments to undertake preliminary work -- reviewing forecasts of revenue potential, developing principles for revenue offsets and determining a meaningful time line for completing work on fiscal offsets. I would stress that these discussions will focus on how any Government of the Northwest Territories' share of revenue resources will offset our formula financing grant and will not touch on the broad issues being discussed at the Intergovernmental Forum.
To conclude, Mr. Speaker, our meeting was very productive. I would like to thank the Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew for her work in preparing for this meeting and for acting as such a valuable advocate for the NWT's concerns within the federal government. Mr. Martin has indicated that he is prepared to meet again to continue discussions on these matters. I look forward to following up on these important issues with him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause