Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is nice to be back in the House with yourself and the rest of my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to raise an issue that this government is proposing; revisions to the Business Incentive Policy.
Mr. Speaker, back in 1992, the Business Incentive Policy was instituted by visionary politicians who wanted to give northern businesses an edge in obtaining contracts, and thus ultimately fostering home-grown businesses, capacity and expertise. There have been many examples of the BIP's success, evidenced by the number of northern businesses that have flourished and are operating throughout the Northwest Territories today.
There have also been many issues that have been raised over the years that have identified shortcomings within the BIP, as well as many suggestions made to show how the BIP could be improved. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, in many cases with regard to the BIP, what appears to be an advantage to one company is seen as a disadvantage to another. Since the revisions of the BIP were announced in July of this year, I have been in contact with many businesses in the Hay River area who avail themselves of the BIP in many instances.
The feedback that I have received gives me cause to think that the proposed changes to the BIP have not been given due consideration and have not been adequately consulted with the businesses in the communities.
One of the drawbacks of the proposed changes is that, giving the GNWT has never been able to quantify the costs involved so as to determine the effectiveness of the BIP, what are the benefits to Northerners as a result of this policy? If we as a government cannot determine the costs of the policy and change the policy just for the sake of change, then this government is left with a policy that it still cannot defend.
Unfortunately, the proposed changes to this policy appear to have come about as a result of the actions of this government to waive the BIP on one specific project, and this has done nothing to instill people's confidence in this government. However, this does prove the point that the government had no idea what extra costs were involved as a result of using the BIP.
One of the things I have heard over and over again from business owners is that they feel the single biggest problem with the Business Incentive Policy is interpretation and enforcement of the policy. Too many businesses have created loopholes in this policy to benefit their own interests. One obvious example of this is the number of storefront businesses operating in the NWT.