Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as our constituents are well aware, this House is going through the review, debate and approval of the government's budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2004-05, and I would just like to let my constituents know what rules and standards I am following in providing my comments and deciding on my votes where they occur in this House with regard to the budget.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, I believe it's important that we value every taxpayer dollar and that we are intimately aware of the high cost of living in the North and, yes, including in the city of Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, our residents are overburdened with the high cost of housing, taxes, fuel, power and water. It is our job to make sure that we do everything we can in our power to tighten our belts in house and keep the government spending on a tight rein, before we make any decision to raise taxes that would increase the cost of living and cost of doing business in the North.
Mr. Speaker, towards that goal, I have been asking for a breakdown on all categories under expenses in the government budget for every division and department. This is because I believe it's important that I get in-depth and accurate figures on what our expenditures are before I can make constructive suggestions as to where we might tighten our belt.
The second area, Mr. Speaker, that I would let my constituents know as to how I make my decisions is that there are essential spending decisions that we must make, and that's in the areas of education and health and other important areas of spending. My role is to make sure that we save where we can; that we make sure that we have enough money to provide programs and services that we need to provide; and, thirdly, when all else fails and if the government proves to me that we have no way to go but to raise taxes, that's the only time when I would agree with the plan of increasing taxes.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to let my constituents know what it is I'm spending my time doing here and what rules I'm following. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause