Mr. Speaker, again I listened to the media this morning, and I heard reference to the slashing of government spending. I want to attempt to bring my own description of what is going on to the public from a Member’s perspective.
Members were elected to the 16th Assembly. As
with all Assemblies I’ve been a part of, our first task was to get together and talk about our priorities and things that we would like to see accomplished during our term in office. It’s the perfect time to do that, after we’ve just been through campaigns where we heard from a lot of people. We called those strategic priorities.
Then comes the task of determining if those priorities are being met by the current programs and services undertaken by government. Running parallel to that exercise is the growth of government spending exceeding increases on the revenue side of the page. Whether the 16th Assembly has any
priorities or even if we retain the status quo of government, the growth occurring is not sustainable. The question, then, is: how do we control that growth in spending while at the same time ensuring that our limited but substantial resources are going toward programs and services that are going to benefit Northerners the most and bring the most positive results?
To that end, MLAs, the cabinet and senior management of government all have a role to play. Do the projects and programs on the books reflect the current priorities of the people that we represent? All of this in an environment which is not static. For the fluid review of expenditures all within our fiscal realities, in a perfect world that might require more than a four-year mandate, and we
could embark on things like a department-by-department review process. But we only have a four-year mandate in which we would like to make a difference and not leave the government broke or at our debt limit.
If we know we have to reduce our spending by a certain amount, what is the best way to achieve that? Obviously, not by setting arbitrary targets based on each department’s share of the overall budget. If I were the Premier, in the interest of fiscal responsibility, I would attempt to engage everyone in a dialogue to identify areas of waste, limited results and low priority. The old style of across-the-board reductions is too dangerous. Changes need to be made, but those changes need to be carefully analyzed, and that takes time.
I’m not happy about the way our intentions have been communicated. This is a process in which we need buy-in from the public. I don’t believe people in the public service would find fault with a process which made government spending more effective, efficient and targeted.
I would like to seek to unanimous consent to conclude my statement.