Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we first started this process, I got the impression that the Finance Minister, Premier Roland, whatever way you want to call it, sort of walked through the gates kind of like Clint Eastwood in Pale Rider. He sort of walked through with his spurs clicking away and saying, “This is how the budget is going to be, and this is how the budget is going to be.” I heard the whistle of Pale Rider go.
Mr.
Speaker, the attitude of Mr.
Roland has
changed quite a bit. First, it was “This is it,” and then there was a little bit of “Maybe,” then “We’ll talk
about it.” We’ve gotten the budget we have here today. The bravado of first coming out there and blazing away has certainly changed. I want to recognize that, because this has been quite an experience for all of us.
Mr. Speaker, when we first started off, there were 135 layoffs before us. Right now we’ve been able to save over 50 per cent. I certainly wish we could have saved every single one of them. I think we have a long way to go, but I also think we’ve come a long way.
Mr.
Speaker, I’ve gotten to know personally a
number of the people who have been affected, not just in my constituency but throughout Yellowknife, and a few people throughout the North. I’ve gained a greater respect for what they do and what they provide to the public service. To that, I personally recognize their efforts in the way they’ve done this, in the sense of the fight and how they helped us.
We’ve been able to reduce that 135 to a little more than 60 employees who will be affected. It’s between 60 and 70. I wouldn’t think that the fight is over. I think that on this side of the House we still have a long ways to go. We’re going to still continue to work with government to bring their attention to issues and stuff.
Mr. Speaker, when it first started and our esteemed Premier said, “This is the way it’s going to be,” I started losing a lot of sleep. I haven’t taken this process very lightly. I mean, I’ve been exhausted. I worry about people who got a layoff and who aren’t going to be taking a retirement package, who aren’t available to go to school, and even those people who don’t have a position to transfer to. I worry about them today; I’m concerned about them today. I know everyone in this building is concerned about them. I hope no one takes that lightly. But there is still a long ways to go.
I want to recognize a few things; I should call them milestones. The first one is the way the Regular Members collectively came together. In my experience in the last budget — in the sense of the last government, that is — Regular Members worried more about their own constituency and what they could raise individually on their own merits, whether it’s their own credibility or legacy. This has been quite an interesting change, because Regular Members formed a united caucus, where each one of us was able to come together in some form or another to vote collectively. It was quite impressive. I think there was only a little chip in our armour only in one vote or so. With that, we can move forward, Mr. Speaker.
I also want to recognize the fight and appreciation that the UNW put up. Mr. Speaker, they took a lot of time and energy. They produced reports. They called us; they met with us. They took a lot of time
to make sure we understood their points of view. For that, I thank them. The hill that they were charging up wasn’t easy. They needed the support from Regular Members here to take the time to listen to them and understand their issues. The issues the UNW brought forward, I thought, were good ones and interesting ones. I’m grateful for that.
When I look to Cabinet, I certainly hope they got a message through this whole process. I certainly hope they don’t think this was fun. I didn’t enjoy these stressful days, these stressful afternoons, the late nights. Like I said, I’ve lost a lot of sleep. Although I wasn’t on a hunger strike, like some Members, it certainly feels like I’ve been on a sleeping strike. I’m certainly looking forward to Friday, when the budget process is over.
I certainly think most people in the public don’t know that there isn’t a door on the side where you walk through to Cabinet, and that there isn’t a door that stops people from entering the Regular Members’ side. The thresholds are open. There’s no door there. As I understand it, there’s never been a door there — or maybe there was — in my time, that is.
The important thing I’m trying to emphasize is to make sure Cabinet uses that hallway and comes down and knocks on our door. At the start of the budget there was a silence. This is the way it was going to be, and there was this silence. But as the process got on and as we united collectively under all Regular Members — and I want to thank each individually, of course, for their efforts in coming together — all of a sudden, through the doors we started hearing Ministers making special visits down the hall. All of a sudden we were back to sort of: “No. Maybe. Okay. We’ll work through this, and we’ll find a way.”
Is this an example of consensus government working? I would certainly say that quite often we’re the envy of Canada, and this is exactly why. We can reach things and work through them, and sometimes, whether we like them or not, we can find a balance to make it work and come together.
I have great respect for Finance Minister Roland. I don’t think it was clearly highlighted by Mr. Miltenberger, but the fact is that this is his last budget. Although he’s mentioned how many he has carried on, it is not any easy task to carry on such broad shoulders the future of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the future of the people of the Northwest Territories. Premier Roland doesn’t get enough recognition for the fact that, I’m sure, he lost a lot of sleep, and maybe he lost a little weight on some type of hunger strike or something like that of his own — maybe a frustration strike with many Regular Members.
The thing I’m trying to recognize here is that his composure through this process has been admirable, and I admire him. It’s hard to take it line-by-line — “We’ll fight every single line through this budget” — and not take it personally. He’s done wonderfully. For that, I respect him, because it’s hard not to take this job personally when you’re worried about everything and the struggles. If we vote no, it doesn’t mean we don’t like you or that we don’t want something. We’re just concerned about how it sort of pans out for the future.
Mr. Speaker, voting for a balanced budget, in my mind, is the only way to do business. I can’t imagine a Member here not wanting to vote for a balanced budget. Who knows where we would be? It doesn’t represent sound management. We have to work on a sheet that’s always balanced. This is an historic day, where Regular Members came together in such united ways to influence government, not as 11 voices but as one voice. We have proved time and time again that we are a force to be reckoned with when we work together.
With that said, it’s always nicer to work together with the other seven Members too. I would encourage them, as we go forward in the future, to reach out to us in advance, as early as possible, to ask us what we think before they put it in print and to say, “Any thoughts?”
Mr. Speaker, as we go on to the next budget, 2009–2010, that will grace our desks in the fall, when we start talking about them in committee, I certainly look forward to seeing things such as zero-based budgeting, better evaluation on how we plan to proceed. I want to make sure we proceed with things that we support, and I certainly want to make sure that we’re in the business we want to be in as far as government. There’s always a huge expectation that we do everything as a government, and I know that’s completely unrealistic, but I know we try.
Working through these business plans, I would encourage the government side of the House to use every opportunity to make sure we’re communicating and hearing the side of the Regular Members as we bring forward some issues.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, years ago I read the book and even took a course, the Stephen Covey course. One of his famous sayings that has always stuck with me is: begin with the end in mind. Whoever the Finance Minister will be, whatever lucky Member on the Cabinet side gets that, I would encourage them to start thinking about this process. I say again: this was not fun; it was not enjoyable. I will carry the concerns of those who won’t be in the public service with us much longer for quite a while, because it does bother me. I would encourage Cabinet to use every opportunity to seek
support early on, to listen to Regular Members and engage with us and work with us, because consensus government will never continue if you act like a government in majority. I say that this is a teamwork process, that we need to do this together.
Mr. Speaker, I thank everyone for this privilege to speak today. I will be supporting the budget. It’s an honour to be part of this Assembly, even though some days are longer than others. I definitely say that I’ll be supporting this budget, knowing that we will be working toward a better future for the people of the Northwest Territories. With that, I thank you, Mr. Speaker.