Mr. Speaker, I wanted to recognize Todd Parsons, president of the Union of Northern Workers. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would also, at this time, like to recognize...It is not too often that I get a number of my constituents visiting us here in the gallery, so I am going to recognize them once more: Faye Johns, Renie Squirrel, Alida and Andy McKay, Drew Thompson, Diana Young, Bobbi Hamilton, and Sheila Ryan-Hackey. Welcome to the House.

---Applause

Any other visitors who are in the gallery that may have been missed, it is nice to have you here. Welcome to the Assembly. We will return to orders of the day. Back to item 3, Ministers' statements. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak about this government's approach to expenditure reductions. Mr. Speaker, the budget presented by the Minister of Finance today is far leaner than we have seen for some time, and it is a result of a strategy to achieve a $20 million reduction. From what I understand about the processes to achieve this target, Mr. Speaker, each department and Minister was initially asked to identify ways to cut their spending in their department by three percent. It was an across-the-board exercise for all departments.

Mr. Speaker, this approach just doesn't make sense to me. All government departments and programs are not equally critical to meeting the needs of our people. It is wrong to treat them as if they were. Some programs, where and how they are delivered, can have serious ramifications. As elected officials, it is our responsibility to manage public funds with principles of good stewardship with the big picture in mind.

The Finance Minister referred to an analogy between our budget and a household budget. I don't think the Finance Minister would approach cutting his personal household budget by a percentage across the board. If he needed to save 10 percent, would it be 10 percent of his heating bill, 10 percent of his phone bill, dentist bill, kids' school supplies, 10 percent off of groceries, 10 percent off of holidays? Of course not. That would be ridiculous. He would prioritize, look at where there were expenditures, where cuts would not negatively erode the wellbeing of the entire household. Likewise, he wouldn't devote resources to prosper one member of his family to the demise and harm of another. He would want to be fair. We need to bring fairness to all people, communities and regions in the North. You wouldn't take programs from one region and give them to another and justify it by saying it had the least impact.

My point, Mr. Speaker, is that we need to use common sense and fairness when looking for budget reductions. Otherwise, we are going to recklessly dismantle what has taken us years to build and, in the process, hurt people who depend on us to make decisions on their behalf. I will be speaking at length and in detail about some of these reductions in the days ahead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, there is a song from Sesame Street that goes, "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong."

---Laughter

It's a simple but sensible approach, Mr. Speaker; one I hope the Minister of MACA will take in looking at Fort Simpson's long-standing request to go back to hamlet status. I think it would become clear to the Minister that the time has come to admit that Fort Simpson just doesn't belong within the tax-based municipalities.

The value of property in Fort Simpson is about $40 million; the next smallest tax-based community, Fort Smith, has more than twice the tax base, a difference of over $50 million, Mr. Speaker. By comparison, the difference between Fort Simpson's tax base and the tax base of the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk is less than $2 million. Yet Tuktoyaktuk enjoys the benefit of the more generous municipal funding formula from both the GNWT and the federal government.

Because of its tax base status, Fort Simpson receives a lower level of municipal funding from the GNWT than it would as a hamlet through formula financing. As a tax-based community, it is also treated differently under the new federal partnerships. Cities, towns and villages, unlike hamlets, are expected to match federal dollars along with the GNWT under the one-third/one-third/one-third arrangements. If, like Fort Simpson, a tax-based community does not have the reserves to come up with that one-third share of the money, it is left out of these wonderful new programs, Mr. Speaker.

The village has been trying for years to make a go of it as a tax-based community. The numbers just aren't there. It is time to put Fort Simpson with the Hamlets and Settlements Act where it belongs. Mahsi Cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Zoe.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I received some very exciting and welcome news, which is that the Tlicho Land Claims and Self

-Government Act has been given third reading by the Senate of Canada.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to express in words how important this day is to the Tlicho people. It is truly an historic moment, not only for the Tlicho but for all the Northwest Territories and Canada. I am sure that years from now, people will be telling their children and their grandchildren where they were when they heard this exciting news.

I am very happy that many Tlicho people -- around 70, I believe -- were there to witness this event. Just a few minutes ago I was speaking to someone in our Treaty 11 office, where everyone is celebrating and have been speaking with people in Ottawa. Right after third reading, Mr. Speaker, there was a tea dance right on Parliament Hill.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my congratulations to all the Tlicho people and especially to our negotiating team who have worked hard on behalf of all of us for many, many years to see this day. To all our people who were able to travel to Ottawa for this historic and happy occasion, I wish you a safe journey back home to your families and I look forward to celebrating with you in the days and weeks to come. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Zoe. That must indeed be a very happy day for your people. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today will be on the budget address by the honourable Member for Inuvik, Mr. Roland. On the mortgaging of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, I quote from the Finance Minister in his budget address today, from page 5 under Fiscal Strategy, "However, just like a family is prepared to borrow to buy a house if they can afford the monthly mortgage payment, we are prepared to borrow to make necessary capital investments."

Mr. Speaker, this is a powerful quote from the budget, especially in times like this in the Northwest Territories. We have a tremendous increase on developing our resources in the Northwest Territories. We understand that millions are leaving the North, there is an increase in exploration development and finding the big ticket items such as the Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

Mr. Speaker, we need to get our house in order. Cut the waste, go back to the basics that will ensure that as northerners we can expect a living known to no other place in Canada that we enjoy and can live well in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, we are mortgaging our home in the Northwest Territories and like any other families who are in the same situation, a lot of commitments have to be secured, priorities listed, a budget must be developed and followed as closely as possible. Action plans must be developed to be carried out. Long-term planning is part of that vision. Relationships must be built on trust, respect and the ability to deal with the uncertainty.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, we must be willing to mortgage our home on our income, and that, Mr. Speaker, I await this government to bring to this House good news that will happen in the coming months with the federal government. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night I had the pleasure of attending a birthday party at Aven Manor. The birthday party was for Mary Louise King, a former resident of Tu Nedhe who has lived at the manor for the past few years. Mary Louise doesn't know for sure which day her birthday really is, because she was first registered by the treaty party that went to Fort Resolution in July 1900, and that makes her at least 105 years old.

---Applause

Mary Louise even got up last night and did a little jig.

---Laughter

She's a very alive, spry lady. She spent a lot of her early life in the Reliance area and then later on at Rocher River and Fort Resolution. Eventually she moved to Yellowknife and settled here a few years ago. She was married first to a man by the name of Lafferty and then later on her second marriage was to Francois King Beaulieu. She's pointed out to people that the Francois King Beaulieu she married is the big Francois King Beaulieu, not the little Francois King Beaulieu, because he was a little skinny guy and she wanted to make that clear.

She's also a lady who never wore black. In fact, her grand-niece last night was telling me that this is the first time she's seen her in black. She always considered black to be a colour for old people. I hope the Legislative Assembly will join me in wishing her a very happy 105th birthday. We don't know exactly the day, but it was celebrated last night. I wish her many more birthdays.

I also want to pay tribute to many of the other residents at the Aven Manor. I talked to Art Dodman, Les Rocher, Catherine Turner and a lot of others. Art Dodman told me he watches every day what goes on in here. I'm sure many of them do. I also want to pay tribute to the staff at Aven Manor. They are a great and dedicated group of people who are very much loved by the residents in that manor and I encourage all the Members here to someday visit. There are people from all over the Territories at the manor. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Indeed a happy birthday to her. An age that probably most of us won't see. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to use my statement today to once again draw some attention to an item I feel is often overlooked and underestimated. Seeing as today the Finance Minister delivered his budget address to the Members of this House and the residents of the Northwest Territories, now is as an appropriate a time as ever to discuss the largest expense on our books, and that is the salaries and benefits that we pay to our public servants. I do believe we have a very capable and first-rate public service here in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. My concern is the size of that public service and the fact that it eats up close to 40 percent of our annual budget.

This is cause for alarm and for some reason the government doesn't seem to be paying attention to this. We have nearly 4,500 employees in a territory with a population of 42,000 individuals. If you do some math and take out the individuals that are under 20 years of age, you come up with one in every 4.5 people who work for the GNWT. The growth goes from 2,750 employees in 1999 to close to 4,500 today. The total costs are up from $251 million in 1999 to close to $400 million today.

During the next few months certainly we'll be negotiating with the unions for a new collective agreement. I'm not a fortune teller, Mr. Speaker, but chances are we'll need to pay some more in any new agreement that we get. Where do we suppose this new money is going to come from, Mr. Speaker? What programs and services are going to be affected? What's going to happen here is there's going to be a compounding scenario that's at play and that, if left alone, could cripple the operation of this government at some point in the not-too-distant future, Mr. Speaker.

I would not wish to send off alarm bells of any kind to the hard working public servants that we do have here in the Northwest Territories, with calls for massive layoffs or anything of that nature. What I feel is needed is a plan, and today there is no plan, Mr. Speaker. We continue to grow our public service every year. In fact, it is almost doubled in size from just six years ago. What I would suggest to this government is to take stock of where we are today and develop a plan for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While the economy is red hot maybe we should look at things like a hiring freeze, early retirement packages and plain old attrition to help us get a handle and grip on where we're headed with our public service. It is only common sense that the more we are spending on salaries and benefits to our employees, the less money will get on the ground for the people and the social agenda here in the Northwest Territories, the people who really need some help and the necessities. I'm talking about nurses, teachers and doctors. We have to know that our priorities are, going forward. As a government, we have to get a plan for the future of the public service here in the Northwest Territories to ensure that we're able to continue to provide the programs, services and support that our citizens will demand of us. I find it hard to fathom how any organization could move ahead, with no plan to address this. Mr. Speaker, I guess today I'm sounding the alarm bells. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about some government financial management policies on payment for services from local contractors, especially from small businesses operating in small, remote communities. I'm sure many of the Members of this House have received or heard similar concerns from their constituents with regard to the 90 days it takes for this government to issue payment for services it receives, although the Financial Administration Manual indicates a 20-day payment schedule for these services.

This three-month delay, Mr. Speaker, can cause the downfall of many small businesses. Simply put, small businesses just cannot afford to carry on with this process because many do not have the AA3 credit rating this government enjoys. To my knowledge, every local business has an obligation to pay for the materials or supplies they require to carry on with their company on the very day that they are received, otherwise the suppliers will not allow the supplies to be delivered.

Mr. Speaker, if this government is supportive of the small business sector of our economy and promotes fair competition for all public tenders it advertises here in the NWT, a policy which will require a more supportive approach to sustainable business development has to be implemented and strictly adhered to by government staff so that these smaller, sometimes newer, private businesses can openly compete for some of the more lucrative tendered items along with the larger, more established businesses with bigger credit and deeper pockets.

Time and time again, Mr. Speaker, I've heard local small businesses being put on the edge of bankruptcy or insolvency because of the length of time it takes them to receive payment from the Government of the Northwest Territories. Many discontinue submitting bids for future projects related to their small businesses because of this fact.

Mr. Speaker, locally owned businesses are a vital part of our economy, especially in the small communities. These local entrepreneurs are the driving force in their community's growth and development and I will be urging this government to consider endorsing a better policy that shows an accurate picture of this Assembly's vision for self-reliant people, communities and the NWT. What better way of doing this than by having this government start with policies that support and safeguard the success of all small businesses of the NWT and of individuals and families many of our smaller communities rely on to provide their families with healthy living and a brighter future for their children. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish, like my other colleagues, I could quote from Mr. Roland's finance budget delivery address earlier today, but, unfortunately, I can't quote what isn't there. That is, we don't have a plan to hire our northern teaching graduates.

Mr. Speaker, we are all well aware of former Premier Kakfwi's grand promise to provide all northern graduates of recognized teaching programs with employment. Well, Mr. Speaker, those were nice words back in those days, which were only a couple years ago, as a priority, but the reality is that those graduates out there are not getting jobs that they were lead to believe they would get when they finished. Mr. Speaker, thank goodness Moody's hasn't done a credit rating on our promises or our priorities because we wouldn't have gotten an AA3 rating for promises.

We've been hearing a lot about how difficult it is to recruit teachers to our northern communities, but it's pretty hard for an average person to understand why our education authorities aren't jumping at the chance to hire our northern grads. Where is the difficulty, Mr. Speaker? Is it a lack of will on the part of the education authorities? Is it a communication gap where the students aren't informed about these available jobs? Or is it the education authorities aren't informed about the available grads? What is the problem, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, I can't imagine how discouraging it must be for recent grads of the education programs to see jobs taken up by southern hires and not their northern friends. While the northern grads are getting by, they are getting casual substituting teaching jobs and taking jobs in other fields, and that must be significantly disappointing.

I realize education authorities are responsible directly for hiring their own teachers and employees, but the government has a responsibility to live up to a promise that they made. Where is the action plan to that promise? We need to get our house in order with this particular problem, Mr. Speaker. Somebody has to be monitoring the numbers. Get out there with the education authorities; find out what is really happening and why we are doing this. Are we burying our heads in the sand, or in the snow, in this particular case? Are we pretending that, for this big successful concept of an initiative, the promises were made, are we ignoring that we have something unique to deliver? I think we're failing, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, these graduates work hard, very hard to get where they are today. We made a promise to them; they made a promise to want to teach our children here in the North. Is this government letting this promise go by the wayside? Why was this promise never fulfilled? We need to fill our education authorities and implement this promise by using our authority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.