Mr. Speaker, in fact, we have to do both. Money was voted to in fact undertake the program reviews that the Member has talked about now for some time in this Assembly and in the previous one. They’re getting tooled up to do the job. We’ve briefed committee. We’ve laid out some of the work plan. We’re looking to work with committee to make sure that we have the best work plan possible. In fact, the plan would be to have some Members possibly on the

refocusing committee to make sure we’re doing the proper work.

At the same time, we clearly heard the debate, frank and intense, from the last budget process, which indicated very clearly that the issue of program reductions, the expenditure reductions, was one that caused a certain amount of concern by the other Members.

So we’ve regrouped. We’ve come forward with ways that we can still try to hit the targets or as close to the targets as possible to keep us on the right track.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud the government, actually, in looking at the formation of this policy review shop that they’re going to have. But I think given the fact that it’s inside government, it’s going to be bureaucratic, it’s going to be slow, and it’s going to be cumbersome. I’d like to ask the Finance Minister if the government has any plans to get some outside help to come in to analyze government spending and do zero based reviews. It doesn’t have to happen government-wide, but if we could do a department or two a year and try to get a handle on where our money is going, where it’s being spent, I think that would be a better approach than trying to go out and get it out of the pockets of Northerners.

Mr. Speaker, we look forward to working with the Members, the committee members. There’s been a clear signal that they would like to have Members on the refocusing committee because of the issue with boards and agencies, because of the program review issues. We’ve laid out the work to date. Funds have been voted. There’s been a five member staff that’s been put together. We’re working out a work plan. Clearly, this is a complex issue as you start looking at analyzing and doing zero based reviews and program reviews. There are some very big pieces of government out there. We look forward to working with the Members. As we indicated, here’s the work plan. Let’s see what we can get done and how do we make this work, because it is going to be a complex, ongoing, long-term process, as the Member indicated.

Mr. Speaker, the next question I have for the Minister of Finance is: of the $135 million that was proposed to be reduced over two years, exactly where is the government in terms of finding that $135 million today?

Mr. Speaker, we concluded the budget a number of months ago. We’re doing capital, in fact, in the next number of days here in this session, and then we’re going to be coming forward with the business plans that will be laying out year 2 of the reduction exercise.

At the end of the day, with the revised targets, we’d be aiming for closer to $111 million when you look at revenue as well as reductions.

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

I know the Finance Minister is new to that role, but he’s been here for a number of years.

You know, given the fact that we don’t have a resource deal with Ottawa, devolution is slowed down, has the government got a direction in terms of equity investment in resource extraction areas in our territory? Are we going to go there? Because in terms of finding new revenue sources, I think we need to start investing our money where we can make some money. So I’d like to ask the Minister that.

Mr. Speaker, clearly

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clearly

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that’s an option: for the government to

buy into business. Of course, first we need to have the money to do the investment. We have a limit here of $500 million, but we are looking at all the options, and we want to be as creative as possible. We’re interested in setting up, as the Members pushed for it since the last Assembly as well, things like a heritage fund that will allow us to plan for the future. Clearly, we want to look at all the opportunities that are out there, but we are limited by the funds and resources we have available, in addition to trying to make sure we keep the government operational.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the question I’m asked a lot after this discussion came out on the revenue options is: when? I’d like to ask the Finance Minister: when would the earliest implementation time be? I mean, are we looking at six months, a year? There are people out there who are even thinking we are going to be doing it this session. So just for comfort, for a lot of people out there listening, when is the earliest possible implementation were these proposals to go ahead?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, the plan as laid out was to find $10 million in new revenue for the ’09–10 budget that was laid out initially last year. We are going to be aiming for that target, with a subsequent $30 million for 2010–11 and going forward. All the work that is being done is getting pulled together, so it will feed into the business planning process. Departments will come forward with the work that has been done. I will come

forward as the Minister of Finance with the work, the feedback, the revenue options, including suggested areas where there could be tax increases, but also lay out, we think, some very productive high potential revenue options.

I thank the Minister for that. I notice in the discussion paper that there is mention that 18 per cent of employment income in the NWT was earned by non-residents. How much money are we actually talking about being earned by non-residents and leaving the territory?

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have an exact figure, but it would be millions of dollars. The Member for Kam Lake had some numbers that he has used, but it is a significant amount of money. It is leakage south that we want to try to capture and keep in the North.

Mr. Speaker, I noticed in the discussion paper that there seems to be no option to try to capture that money. I think that’s a target we should aim at and leave the personal income tax part of it, which hits people who are staying in the Northwest Territories, contributing to the Northwest Territories. I could go on forever, but I won’t. I’d like to ask the Finance Minister: do we get anything out of the 18 per cent employment income earned by non-residents?

Mr. Speaker, the payroll tax is one small attempt to capture some of that wealth that is now flying over as they go back to where they may be living in the south.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, we also talk about money leaving the Northwest Territories, and we talk about a $30 per person fee. We do not have the authority, according to the document, to tax resources, which I still can’t believe. Do we have the authority to tax industry for the number of workers they have who are non-residents of the Northwest Territories, and if we don’t, would they consider that an option too?

Mr. Speaker, one of the proposals was a potential $30 levy on all southern air travel. But, clearly, especially with the mines right now, there is a socioeconomic agreement, bilateral in nature, that we are working with. The Minister of ITI is engaged in those discussions, and the issue of the fly in/fly out, having workers in the North, is at the top of the list to assist us.

The estimates are that if we can work closely with the diamond mines, then we can start bringing, we believe, up to 100 workers a year, to have them, in fact, start living in the North, because there is going to be enough incentive for them to do that. This has

a tremendous ripple effect. The 100 workers, they tell me, statistically would be more like 300 if they have families and they move to the North. So as the Member for Kam Lake has said repeatedly, there is a huge benefit here. We just have to do the right thing to capture that.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I talked about the impact and effect the high cost of living is having on families in the smaller communities. I also talked a bit about the proposed taxes and how they can also impact their efforts to make a better living for themselves.

I’d like to ask either the Premier or the Minister of Finance if, while looking at options, the Minister or Premier, the Cabinet, has considered the impact of taxing our citizens, as far as retaining those families in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated already, we are very clearly aware that there are upsides and downsides. While we may generate some revenue, there are going to be implications and consequences. We are looking very carefully at all the decisions we are going to be making and the suggestions and recommendations we are going to be bringing forward.

We are very sensitive to the issue of the cost of living in small communities. We have set up a committee to in fact address that issue. We do not want to engage in counterproductive exercises here in government. So, yes, we are going to be very careful in measuring how we do this to make sure that at the end of the day the cure is not worse than what ails us.

Prior to even the consultation process, I am assuming there has been some thought given to this. I would like to ask the Minister if Cabinet had examined leaving as much disposable income as possible in the pockets of the citizens, letting the natural economic process of the multiplier effect take place.