Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the first opportunity I've had to reply to the opening address and I think it's important I do it at this point in the early term of our session here.
Mr. Speaker, it is not often that a small riding such as my electoral district of Inuvik Twin Lakes sets a new standard by having a turnout of electors that exceeds 153 percent during a general election. In my review of recent history, this seems to be the first of its kind in the history of Canada.
My Speaker, my riding of Inuvik Twin Lakes did not only come out in support of its four candidates, the electoral district also provided the MLA with the draft mandate that supports an agenda for change, a vision they want me to convey in this 15th Assembly. I guess there sets an example; in the past, I asked a more seasoned veteran of this Assembly two questions and he took them both as notice. I'm sure that if he understood the history of our territory, he would have an immediate reply for me. So it tells me that there needs to be a political transformation. Too often we have heard that our political system requires modernization, universality across the NWT so that we function in a...(inaudible)...I'm sure that that indoctrination remains today in the minds of many as we try to progress forward, as we have done in the Mackenzie Delta in the history of our short period extending back to the late 1800s.
With the current developments occurring across the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, we have little ability other than try to react to progressive business and economic change, and that has hurt our fiscal capability of trying to deal with it. When we tried to talk about trying to develop capacity building, I think we should really look at ourselves as a territorial legislature and see if we can meet some of those objectives.
As has been expressed to me, I express to you, my colleagues in this Assembly, that we need to make ambitious changes to the way our government system is designed and intended to work. It's unfortunate that we have to continue to have examples where large businesses get benefits, yet we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars chasing a poor, marginalized person in this territory to try to recover either student financial assistance or income support or other payments that are outstanding and owed as a small debt to this government. Then we continue to see economic business and corporate development in the fields of diamond mining and oil and gas exploration across the Northwest Territories. When the immense natural resources of our wonderful land are tapped, we will not only contribute to our own prosperity but to the prosperity to the rest of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, it speaks well for the future of political and social change which has lagged behind in the pace of this business and economic process. Thus it has come upon myself and many Members of this Assembly, as duly elected Members, to embrace the challenge of modernization.
Mr. Speaker, far too often we have gotten into a discussion about our relationship with the federal government with minimal positive results. I think that's why you heard myself as a Member in the last two days talk about constitutional reform for the Northwest Territories. My constituency has asked me to mandate the Premier to build support with his western Premier colleagues and northern colleagues, prior to the
scheduled meeting in Inuvik between July 12th and 14th, to bring forth some objectives that give the NWT some of the same powers as any Canadian province, rather than remaining under the federal jurisdiction in many areas.
Mr. Speaker, too often we hear that many of our processes that were changed come under the authority of the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, and that any recommendations we make are only accepted if they're liked by that department. I believe the next level is to take ownership of many processes afforded to other jurisdictions, and the only way to do this is to have a rightful seat at the Confederation table, so I would ask that the Premier follow up on this suggestion. We must have the western Premiers support our vision in promoting self-government by aboriginal groups, regions and municipalities, by pressuring the federal government to move rapidly in support of our new political institutions.
Mr. Speaker, the coming years will be a time for far-ranging experimentation in governance within our North. Our new governments will be laboratories for democracy, but they must also have the powers to rise to that challenge. That means adequate funding including resource revenues in the context of devolution where programs and responsibilities are transferred, and the transfer of financial authority must accompany them.
Mr. Speaker, we must ensure that the Premier acknowledges the position expressed in this Assembly by my constituency and, therefore, work with his colleagues in advancing this modern approach with the federal government.
Mr. Speaker, our natural resources basis is for increasing contributions to the nation's economy, but we must have a fair share of that wealth as well. My constituents have stated emphatically that we need a greater share of resource revenues that will allow us to make investments in our future. We must invest in our small companies so that we can train our young people. In my talks with many people across the North, there is a huge gap in their skill levels and unfortunately we do not have training programs in place that they can tap into to further their skills, plus we are bottlenecked at the labour entry levels. These young people will eventually play a part in developing our infrastructure and the infrastructure reporting and growing economic role. Without this type of investment that is a concern that we will continue to report highly skilled labour, therefore maximizing the unemployment strategy is virtually ineffective.
My constituency agrees in principle that this government must move faster in negotiating a fair division of resource revenues so we can invest much of our share in a resource royalty fund, a system that has been successfully used in Alberta.
Mr. Speaker, in review of our budgets, we must bring our spending under control as we negotiate a realistic funding formula with the federal government. Too many federal programs are based on per capita funding, which neglects the higher costs in the North. Mr. Speaker, we must ask this government to develop a workable funding arrangement, that we have funding reflecting our higher costs and they will top up funding on a per capita basis. Now is the time to act. The current formula funding ends in March of this year, so the successor must be more equitable. With more generous funding, this does not relieve us of our obligation to get our Assembly in order. As we have heard in the past three years, all of our expenditures have increased at a rate of 27 percent. Mr. Speaker, this is unsustainable. Spending restraints must become the norm in the GNWT operations, and I am pleased to hear that the Finance Minister will introduce some form of legislation in the near future to address that territorial-wide concern.
My constituency of Inuvik Twin Lakes is also requesting the Premier and his Cabinet to complete a comprehensive program review using zero-based budgeting to identify those programs that are already cost effective, those that require reform, those that have failed and should be discontinued. Mr. Speaker, we too often see GNWT programs duplicate those of federal and NGO programs, for example. We must amalgamate and consolidate programs in the interest of greater efficiency and lower costs.
In budgeting for the future, my constituency clearly advocates electronic budget reform. This will allow for businesses, community groups and others on the receiving end of the budget process to forward their ideas on what works and what doesn't work. We see this as a fascinating move which will allow the creation of a more open budgeting process. We must proceed to a multi-year budgeting system in order to provide a more stable, predictable fiscal framework for the subsequent two or three years. Annual financial updates will ensure the flexibility to adjust to changes in the economic climate.
Mr. Speaker, while Cabinet in the sense that they are accountable, unfortunately the system is not and that is what we are trying to address today. We want to see far-reaching reform under the Financial Administration Act. This will ensure greater financial transparency with more budgetary information available both in print and online.
If we are to provide services that truly serve, then we must provide high quality service at an affordable cost, which would require government to work in partnership with the private sector. Again, emphasis will be in the area of education and life skill development. I spoke to many constituents across the North and they said academic training is not enough, we need life skill training as well so that they can adjust to the demands of industry and the high standards that are set through unionized jobs, unionized training and unionized standards. We see examples of this in the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort area between aboriginal groups and industry. We see industry can develop, whereas government can't coordinate, that community and regional educational facilities can deliver apprenticeship and scholarships for high paying jobs that economic development brings. These are the jobs that will build capacity in our communities and help our people pursue rewarding careers. We can support the retraining of older workers as an example through tax exempt individual training accounts that will promote lifelong learning.
Mr. Speaker, people have told me that they find our system of access and social benefits confusing and ineffective. In their observation it seems that the government gives money with one hand and takes away with the other. I have heard other Members of this Assembly raise that key question to the appropriate Minister. This fails to target those who need help the most.
Through my discussions with the experts, the proposal to vary tax, which the Minister asked me about, is an idea thought out in the U.K. In a social benefits program, they target those who need this form of help. I will ask, on behalf of my constituents, that the Finance Minister of this government liaise with the federal government to develop the negative income tax as developed by the renowned economist Milton Friedman to provide aide for those in long-term need rather than the existing tax system.
Mr. Speaker, we must commit to invest in our renewable resource sector as well. I raise this quite regularly. Our world is deemed to be so fragile and in our recent history we have seen what effects diseases such as SARS or BSE has on our economies. A comprehensive review of our renewable resource sector shows that the departments put too much emphasis on enforcement and not enough into community resource development. We must ask that the department reprofile this mandate to accommodate systemic change so that we can put people back onto the land and become resourceful again.
This common knowledge in my electoral district of Inuvik differs from the government's motive to move towards a one-rate zone that theoretically introduces the levelized rate zone of power. Mr. Speaker, although well intended, I've never believed we can make a parallel between the high rates in Colville Lake or say in this valley as large as Fort Simpson, simply because there are far fewer customers in Colville Lake than there are in Fort Simpson. The intent of introducing levelized rates should be based on setting a cushion for those hit hard by crushing power bills, by retaining the economic incentive to shift to more sustainable, environmentally-friendly power sources. Therefore, I still remain committed to support the idea of a three-tier power rate system to equalize rates for all communities, which use either gas, diesel or hydro power sources.
Mr. Speaker, through my many years in political life, I have heard that banking services in Northwest Territories communities are either poor or nonexistent. The subject is still a matter of debate when one sits at various annual general meetings of aboriginal organizations. Our government must begin to develop an NWT community bank program where each community's capital resources could be brought together and mobilized to build businesses and futures. Testability is the monumental word. We should follow the model of the Alberta Treasury Branch, which brought banking services to rural Alberta when the existing banks would not. This helped local economies grow in the process.
Mr. Speaker, what I seek on behalf of the constituents of Inuvik Twin Lakes and for the people who support me across the NWT, the government with a vision of our own possibilities. Whether you are an aboriginal who is ancestral to the North, or a southerner who sees its immensity as a canvass for your own ambitions, I ask you to share this vision.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I have been guided by a small but very ambitious riding that articulated a vision of their own. I take pride in delivering this key message on their behalf today. So I call upon my colleagues in this Assembly to endorse the challenges provided herein. Mr. Speaker, it is now time to meet the challenge of not only political transformation, but to compel our political organizations to work with us in modernizing and to change the way we are governed. Thus, I have raised the questions in the last two days and also in my Member's statement. This will ultimately make our territory wealthy and self-reliant.
In final conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I find that many instruments presented to this House should be taken and we should move forward on them. I thank you for your indulgence in listening to my reply to the opening address. Thank you.
---Applause