Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague from Hay River North has already made reference to the words, the time that this Assembly has spent on the business incentive policy not only in the last few days but over the last few years. I would not extend this, but to say that from the point of view of the business community who are principally the clients and this government's partners in developing and advancing this Northwest Territories, that the plea is for consistency, stability and integrity in the way we go about our business.
Markets grow and evolve. They have certainly done so since this business incentive policy was first introduced many, many years ago. There was a major rethinking and some retooling of the business incentive policy done late in the life of the last Assembly, Mr. Speaker. So we're just a few months into the next iteration of the business incentive policy.
For the most part, I felt that those amendments were constructive, and indeed they demonstrated that our markets are evolving. The point has been made that as competition grows among our northern established businesses, there should be less and less need for a policy of this kind. It was really created to help establish enterprises so that they could get on their feet and have some kind of parity with lower-cost southern businesses, and once they're going they can carry on on their own merits and be competitive. In the community of Yellowknife here, things have certainly changed a lot in the 40 years that I've lived here. In the last 10 years, they have changed remarkably. We have such a strong, diverse and competitive business community here. There is, I think, less and less need for this kind of government intervention. Interference in the market is not the right word, but influence. It's a demonstration, I think, of how a policy like this has helped our economy and our society. But Yellowknife is very much an exception to the NWT. There are smaller communities and our regional centres and then down to our very smallest communities, Mr. Speaker, that are continuing to try to grow their competitive business community. This is where businesses like this, that I continue to believe, need consistency.
But I would go back to what the message is and we continue to get messages from the business community saying that the way we manage this is not sending out a clear signal of consistency and stability. To the extent to which Cabinet has discretion to come in and amend, change or decide to defer or ignore this policy is not only putting me off balance and some of my colleagues, but the business community. This is what this motion is, Mr. Speaker. It's a plea and a first resolution to use the spirit and intent of the business incentive policy to its fullest advantage. In those words, Mr. Speaker, spirit and intent, comes aspects of integrity, of consistency, of stability that we have to do better on when it comes to working with the people, our partners, in the business community.
Obviously I speak very strongly in support of this motion and hope that our colleagues in the government will indeed take our lead and look at the spirit and intent of this policy. It's a good one.