Thank you. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance.
It was a year ago today that Members were elected to the 16th Legislative Assembly, and shortly
thereafter we got together as a group of 19 MLAs and went through a strategic planning exercise where we tried to map out a strategy for the next four years.
One of the main concerns during that meeting was the cost of living and how the government spent its money. Many Members, I remember, were asking for a zero based review and program evaluations, and here we are a year later. Earlier the government had committed to a reduction exercise of $135 million over two years, and as far as I know, they’re not going to come anywhere close to that reduction number. I find it ironic that now they’re looking at finding an additional $40 million out of taxation.
So I’d like to ask the Minister of Finance why program evaluations and review of government spending government-wide wasn’t conducted prior to engaging the public and engaging Members of this side of the House on these new tax initiatives. To me it’s backwards. We should examine our spending first, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.