Well, certainly the fact that we had that Freudian slip on the record, I'm going to say that, quite frankly, I agree with Minister Miltenberger about this and the characterization of slush fund, because the reality is, it is a Cabinet slush fund. That's the fact. I mean, the Cabinet doesn't want to call it a slush fund because they have all the money at their fingertips.
The fact that when we had to ask for a $3 million adjustment to the budget just here a few months ago, they went kicking and screaming and complained, oh, woe is us. The Members try to have some influence on the budget and they go, the sky is falling. Now we just want to set up some parameters and say how we think the public's money should be spent with the public's opinion. Let the public have the say. Well, you can play that violin, Minister Miltenberger, all you want, but it's true.
If we don't provide some guidance and guidelines with public input, and I want to thank those who saw that exactly. That's all this is, is about trying to set up a framework and a structure to get public input on.
The Cabinet will divvy this up at the FMB table. The Cabinet will scribe it out, and then they'll send us almost the finalized 99 percent version and say, what do you think? Oh, by the way, go fight for the scraps on the side. Fight amongst each other. You know, fight, fight, fight. And then we know you'll never get unanimity because there's 11 of you from 11 different regions; and don't worry, we'll play divisive politics; and don't worry, it will all be fine.
The reality here is all this motion here is, is a framework. It's the people's money. Let's not put barriers in front of the people's money. Let's not be afraid of what the people have to say about their money. This gives the chance of the public to get out there early. This is visioning amongst all colleagues. This isn't just from me. This is all colleagues. You hear Mr. Blake talk about wanting infrastructure. This motion talks about infrastructure, about investing in our communities, our schools, our houses, one-time Assembly priorities.
I've come to three Assemblies so far and every time the new Assembly begins, they say they'd like these as priorities, and every time the Finance Minister walks out the door and he goes, well, I'll see what I can do. Where am I going to cut? Who's going to give it up? Here is a plan.
I tabled earlier just a bit of an illustration and I talked about where the extra money will go, and it shows it's over and above normal operational revenue. It's a way to work with all Members. The moaning and groaning from Cabinet is because they don't want Members to have a say on where money goes. That's it. They don't want to give up the piece of the pie. It is not about us controlling it. It is about being involved in the process up front.
When I talk about a Heritage Fund, again, these are just ideas, a quarter here and there, but these are ideas that say we have to invest now and to the future such as the Heritage Fund. If we don't do it today, it will be almost impossible tomorrow.
The last point on here on debt repayment, again, if we don't seriously get committed behind these initiatives, it's things like this will always be in trouble. You have other jurisdictions who do not have the financial management the Northwest Territories has, which we have an amazing style and good procedures here, but the fact is, this shows we are in control of our debt. Our debt is almost maximized. Throw in another $300 million project - the Inuvik-Tuk highway - all of a sudden it stresses our credit limit. How much more money do we have to pay? People are going to want an extension of the Deh Cho Highway. How much more money? We have so many things.
These are just pillars of ideas. I think enough has been said, but the important thing is, this is a framework to take to the people, because it's their money. The fact that the obstruction or fighting of this or the concern that we are trying to control anybody, it is not that at all. It is about setting up ideals and principles by the public for the public so they can be involved. It is their money. We have nothing to hide and we certainly have nothing to be ashamed of by asking the public of their opinion and getting their fingerprints on this, because otherwise, they have no say and they have to go through every process.
It is a challenging process even for those in this building. It is almost enormously impossible if you are not in this room making some of these decisions. That is why it's important to go to the public.
As I said earlier, I wish a recorded vote on this issue. Thank you.