The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Joe Handley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

The Minister has a point of order. Mr. Handley, what is your point of order?

Point Of Order

Joe Handley Weledeh

On page 278 of yesterday's unedited Hansard, Mr. Lafferty says: "I have to say the Minister is a total stranger to the truth." This comment clearly violates Rule 23(h) and (j). Rule 23(h) makes an allegation against another Member, House officer or witness and 23(j) is charging another Member with uttering deliberate falsehoods. Mr. Speaker, someone who is a total stranger to the truth, quite simply put, is a liar. I, at no time, have lied or misled the House as Mr. Lafferty has indicated in his Member's statement. Mr. Speaker, I ask that there be an apology and that this be withdrawn from the Hansard. Thank you.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Handley. The point of order is in order and the honourable Member has brought it to the Chair's attention at his earliest convenience. Does anyone want to make any comment on this point of order? Mr. Handley.

Joe Handley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, the only comment I will make on it is I referred to the section and it is calling me a liar. I have had a look at what has happened in other parliaments in this kind of situation and find that others have certainly accepted this as a point of order. Thank you.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Any comments? Does Mr. Lafferty wish to make any comments further to what has been brought to the attention of the Speaker? Mr. Lafferty.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Any further comment? I am not going to have a debate. If the honourable Members wish to comment, then we can do that, but we are not going to get into a debate. I have heard one side, I have heard the other side. If there is no further comment I am going to take this under advisement. The

Chair has the unedited Hansard. Mr. Handley, do you wish to make another Point of order?

Point Of Order

Joe Handley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, yes, I will make another point of order. Without having read the Hansard, just on the Member's comments that what I say and what is the truth are two different things. I don't have the exact wording here, but in trying to explain himself, Mr. Lafferty just went on to give me grounds for another point of order. Thank you.

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Handley. We will deal with that one when I come to it. I have to deal with these one at a time and I am dealing with this first point of order that's raised. If there are no further comments on this, no further debate on it, I will reserve judgment until I have reached the conclusion on it.

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

Joe Handley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Finance for Canada, the Honourable John Manley, delivered the 2003 federal budget.

Mr. Manley presented Canadians with a balanced budget, the sixth in a row. In fact, before taking into account the Minister's contingency reserves, the federal budget projections show surpluses for the current and next two fiscal years.

The federal government's strong fiscal position also accords Mr. Manley the flexibility to announce a number of expenditure and tax measures -- investments in health care, in families, in research and education, in national security and in the economy. In total, Mr. Manley announced almost $6 billion in initiatives for the current fiscal year, and more than $10 billion over the next two fiscal years.

From a Northwest Territories perspective, however, the budget is a disappointment. Given the healthy federal fiscal position, given the billions of dollars available for investment in new initiatives, and given the fact that Canada receives the lion's share of the fiscal benefits of northern development, it is very disappointing that the federal government still cannot find its way clear to make the critical investments needed in the Northwest Territories. Beyond some resources for the federal government to increase its own capacity in the North, there is nothing that recognizes the unique needs of the Northwest Territories to prepare for and cope with resource development.

We have clearly identified what is needed. Our Non-Renewable Resource Development Strategy and our proposal for the Strategic Infrastructure Fund, Corridors of Canada, lay out the requirements for infrastructure, for training, for economic development funding, and for other necessary investments. We continue to be disappointed by the lack of federal response to opportunities in the Northwest Territories that would benefit all of Canada.

The federal budget does include a number of initiatives that will benefit all Canadians, including Northwest Territories residents. Increases in the National Child Benefit, including a new child disability credit, will benefit NWT families. New investments in housing, money for the environment and support for aboriginal languages are all steps in the right direction, and we hope that the needs of the NWT are included in these budget measures. The budget confirmed the additional dollars or health care that the Prime Minister committed to earlier this month. It did not address the special needs of the Territories. We are hopeful that the Prime Minister will address this shortfall in his meeting with Premiers Kakfwi, Okalik and Fentie later this week.

The budget did also include some measures of special interest to Northerners:

• • Two new 10-year infrastructure funds will be created --one a strategic fund, the other for municipal infrastructure. However, the funding available in the early years is small, and we do not yet know how the money will be allocated across jurisdictions;
• • The air travellers security charge will be reduced from $24 to $14 for a round trip ticket -- a measure that will directly benefit northern air travelers;
• • Federal corporate income tax rates for mining and oil and gas companies will be reduced over the next five years, to match reductions announced for other corporations three years ago. This measure will benefit the resource sector that is driving our economic growth;
• • The extension of the mineral exploration tax credit for an additional year will benefit the mining sector;
• • Additional funding will be made available for aboriginal business development;
• • And finally, $32 million will be allocated over the current and next two fiscal years to increase federal capacity to conduct environmental and regulatory assessment prior to the construction of a northern gas pipeline.

Unfortunately, there is nothing to address the needs of the other NWT governments to respond to northern development. We must continue to reinforce the message in Ottawa that investment in the Northwest Territories is a good investment and that our government, aboriginal governments and municipal governments need financial support to enhance their capacity to meet the demands of economic growth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.