Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the Member’s comments. I will look at his last comment first where he talked about how we have to empower the people. That was one of the goals, I think, of the public consultation process, to take the time to go to each regional centre. Next year we want to improve on that process, but to talk to the people as
Northerners about how we manage the money we have, living within our means, the challenges we face, the discussions we have here. Did we get value for money was the question that the Member asked. I would suggest to you that yes, we did, that it gave us some specific suggestions. It provided a broader confirmation that as a Legislature we are in touch with the people we represent. A lot of concerns that they’ve talked about we have been trying to address for some time.
The prevention piece, do a better job. More money for infrastructure. Look for efficiencies. Avoid red tape. Put more money into infrastructure. Take advantage of economic opportunities in an environmentally sustainable way. Those are all things that as a government we’re committed to try to do, and we’re going to… Some things we didn’t address in this budget but we’re going to go back again next year, next fall, and we will pick up some of the pieces.
One of the things that came up, for example I was asked about by the press, was there was a significant arts and crafts representation in the budget dialogues here in Yellowknife and we, in this budget, didn’t manage to address the concerns that they raised, so that will remain on the table in the coming year as we look at the next budget.
The key in the Sahtu, as we’ve talked about already, is should the Sahtu oil play prove up, the world as we know it will change. We appreciate the need for essential basic services in communities, and we’re going to continue to do the work that we’re doing. But once again, in the Sahtu if there is going to be that massive influx, a big oil play, lots of money, employment opportunities, then it’s going to be a matter of how to manage that success. We’ll be there.
We will have the discussion on decentralization, as we’ve committed to other Members. Over the long term, once we’ve signed the devolution deal and the money’s in our base, we don’t have to rush to do stuff right away. We have to take the time to think about it because once it’s done, as the Member said, it will be hard to undo.