Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak again about the BDIC and its future with this government. Mr. Speaker, over the past seven years we have analyzed and reviewed the delivery of business related services in our territory to the point where these reviews have recommended some major changes. We have spent over $250,000 on reviews by Dargo and Allen and also there was the Banker’s Commission that called on government to create a one-stop loan and service delivery mechanism for clients. As these reviews and the many public meetings have indicated, this was the desired course of action. This was done to save the public purse for paying for one organization rather than two and to give residents the one-window approach that they desired.
Mr. Speaker, I supported the creation of the BDIC because I believed that was where the government intended on taking the corporation. Mr. Speaker, here we are four years after the establishment of the BDIC and it seems to me that we have forgotten what the intent of the creation of the BDIC was all about. How many of the recommendations contained in these various reviews and analyses have ever been implemented? Why did the department of ITI maintain their control of the BDIC? This government has not followed through on recommendations or the BDIC Act itself. We have not consolidated anything. Clients still have to go through different windows to receive service. If the BDIC was allowed to do its work, why is it that the BDIC loan portfolio is shrinking over the past three years?
Mr. Speaker, on February 24th , in answering a
question on the same subject matter, the Minister of ITI actually asked me a question: Is the Member suggesting to take all of the economic development outside of the department? Well, Mr. Speaker, in response to that question from the Minister, what I’m suggesting is that we revisit the reviews commissioned by the Department of ITI and the spirit and intent of the BDIC Act and take the required steps to get a one-window service delivery model for businesses in our Territory. This government says it’s looking at ways and areas of our operation where we might be able to achieve
efficiencies. Well, Mr. Speaker, here’s one area that I believe we can get efficiencies and improved and better access to the clients that are out there. Mahsi.