The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Please be seated. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Kakfwi.

Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Saturday, October 4, 2003, Transportation Minister Joe Handley and I will be meeting with the federal Minister responsible for Infrastructure and Minister of Industry, the Honourable Allan Rock.

Secretary of State for Rural Development, the Honourable Andy Mitchell, will accompany Mr. Rock.

I cannot speak about the specifics of the agenda, but you can be assured that Minister Handley and I will continue to make a forceful case for federal investment in the Northwest Territories for infrastructure and we expect positive results.

Mr. Speaker, Members will be provided with a full account of our meeting early next week.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Joe Handley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today about some of the activities of the Department of Finance over the past four years.

The department's mandate is to obtain the financial resources needed to implement the GNWT's policies and programs. This includes negotiating major financial agreements with the federal government, making recommendations on tax and fiscal policy, collecting the GNWT's taxes, and managing our cash and debt requirements.

Fulfilling this mandate has been particularly challenging over the last four years, as the GNWT faced growing expenditure needs in critical areas such as health care, education, and infrastructure, and in responding to the demands placed on our government by our rapidly growing economy.

We now anticipate that total government revenues over the last four fiscal years, 2000-01 to 2003-04, will exceed total operating expenditures by more than $100 million. However, much of this was in the form of one-time revenues, and the ongoing fiscal outlook is for expenditures to outstrip revenues, requiring continued strategies to close the fiscal gap.

A number of issues relating to the calculation of formula financial grant entitlements were resolved in favour of the GNWT, resulting in adjustments to grant payments of more than $150 million. In addition, several large, one-time corporate income tax adjustments contributed significant amounts to addressing the government's fiscal shortfalls.

Over these four years, the Department of Finance has also played a major role in intergovernmental fiscal arrangements. Discussions with Finance Canada on renewal of the formula financing agreement and on the transfer of nonrenewable resource revenues to NWT governments are ongoing. Together with other government departments, Finance advanced the NWT case to federal officials with respect to funding for resource development, infrastructure and health care. We have made considerable progress in advancing the arguments why per capita funding allocations are not appropriate for the Territories.

In the 2001 budget, I announced that the GNWT would change the way we levy personal income tax. The move to a tax on income approach increased our flexibility to set tax brackets and rates. Acting on the recommendations of the Minister's Advisory Committee on Personal Income Tax, the department undertook to develop legislation that introduced a minimum cost-of-living tax credit for low-income NWT residents; reduced the tax burden for low-income tax payers; and increased tax support for seniors and persons with disabilities. These changes were approved by the Legislative Assembly for the 2002 tax year.

The Department of Finance is responsible for protecting the government's assets through appropriate risk management and insurance programs. The cost of property losses to the GNWT has declined substantially over the last five years and, in an increasingly difficult worldwide insurance market, the GNWT has been able to maintain affordable coverage.

The Department of Finance also includes the NWT Bureau of Statistics. The bureau is the government's central statistical office and has done an outstanding job of ensuring we have current, consistent and accurate data about our economy, our social conditions and our population. The bureau's 2002 population survey, as well as its detailed methodological review of Statistics Canada's census and coverage results, contributed significantly to the improved NWT population figures released by Statistics Canada in late September.

The NWT Liquor Commission and the administration and enforcement of liquor licensing also falls within the mandate of the department. Over the last four years, the focus has been on responding to community preferences.

Of course, Mr. Speaker, in the time available, it is only possible to touch on a few of the department's activities. I would also comment that much remains to be done to ensure we achieve our goal of fiscal sustainability and the department remains focused on that task.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the staff of the Department of Finance in pursuing the goals set by this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. September 28 to October 4 is Literacy Week in the Northwest Territories, an opportunity for communities and residents to celebrate reading and support the need for literacy throughout our society.

Literacy is a person's ability to listen, speak, read, write, represent, compute and solve problems. This government has a vision for the Northwest Territories where all people can read and write, allowing them to participate as citizens, functioning fully in the family, in the community and on the job. We also see the NWT as a place where people value literacy in all official languages.

Since adopting the NWT literacy strategy in 2001, many exciting partnerships have been formed: with the NWT Literacy Council, Aurora College, the Native Women's Association of the Northwest Territories, the NWT Council of Persons with Disabilities, the NWT Seniors' Society, just to name a few. These groups work to ensure that the literacy needs of all citizens are taken care of. Partnerships also include non-government organizations at the local level and with the business sector. This ensures literacy remains at the forefront of all our efforts.

To help and encourage communities to celebrate Literacy Week, kits were sent to all schools, literacy programs, community learning centres, early childhood programs, libraries, friendship centres, community health representatives and other community groups. The kit contains a variety of literacy activities that can be delivered in each community.

Mr. Speaker, literacy is an issue that affects us all. Literacy contributes directly to a higher quality of life for individuals. This, in turn, fosters a more productive and self-reliant society.

I'd like to leave us with a quote today from Roy Richardson of Rae who won a Canada Post Literacy Award on Tuesday at the adult learners' luncheon held at Aurora College. He said, "I was afraid that people would tell me that I couldn't learn how to read. Two years of schooling got me here and I am afraid of nothing now."

Mr. Speaker, we couldn't have said this better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Mahsi, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that most of my colleagues in the House know of the highly-publicized and sometimes acrimonious relationship between the Hay River District Education Authority and the South Slave Divisional Education Council. Suffice it to say, Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that the residents and students of Hay River are being well served through this relationship with the South Slave Divisional Education Council. The residents of Hay River elect the people who sit on the Hay River DEA in a fair and democratic manner. The authority, in turn, chooses the representatives to sit on the South Slave Divisional Education Council and to look after the students of the second-largest community in the Northwest Territories.

Hay River's representative on the South Slave Divisional Education Council has been supported by fellow DEA members because of his diligence in pointing out inequities in funding allocation with the community of Hay River, and its students have suffered as a result of the decisions made at the divisional board level. Some would say that his representation has been done so well that the South Slave Divisional Education Council has kicked the Hay River representative off the council by stating that his questioning their decision goes against board policy.

It seems inequitable, Mr. Speaker, for the largest community in the division with the majority of the students to not be proportionately represented on the divisional council. Maybe we need a court challenge on the same basis as the case put forward by the Friends of Democracy, citing the representation by population argument. No matter who the representative of the education council is, we have a problem with the process for distributing resources. Quite apart from whether other council members and the DEC staff like the democratically selected Hay River rep, and quite apart from the exception they have taken to his unrelenting advocating on behalf of the Hay River DEA students and educators.

Mr. Speaker, we are at an impasse. There are two choices: find the money to fund a stand-alone education authority for the resident and students of Hay River, or address the issues that made the South Slave Divisional Education Council dysfunctional in the first place.

Mr. Speaker, sitting on the fence is not an option and I'll be questioning the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment later on this matter to see if he has any suggestions of how we can get beyond this impasse. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.