Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The majority of the submissions agreed on the following:
1) The act should describe the purpose of the fund
as ensuring continuing benefits to current and future NWT residents from revenue generated by the development of non-renewable resources;
2) The act should specify what Heritage Fund
withdrawals can be used for;
3) The act should set a fixed annual percentage of
defined revenue sources for deposit into the Heritage Fund;
4) More than 10 years is required for funds to
accumulate before any withdrawals (at least 20 years was the most common suggestion);
5) The fund and projects it contributes to should be
free from political interference; and
6) The fund should be managed at arm’s length
from government.
Half the submissions also recommended that the Heritage Fund be invested ethically, with standards for doing so described in the act.
One intervener suggested that one goal of the Heritage Fund should be to minimize future tax increases.
One submission advised that the Heritage Fund should be able to issue government-guaranteed bonds in which the public could invest.
Committee members carefully considered all this input, including the need for transparency and regular reporting to the public on the management and performance of the fund. The committee shared the Minister’s view that the cost of managing the fund in its early years be kept to a minimum in order to maximize returns.
Balancing public feedback and practical necessities, committee members brought five amendments forward at the public clause-by-clause review on August 12, 2011:
1. Describing the purpose of the fund as providing
benefits from ongoing economic development, including the development of non-renewable resources;
Mr. Speaker, I`ll now pass over the final reading of the report to my colleague Mr. Hawkins.