Mr. Speaker, it is once again budget day in the NWT, or I’ve started to see it as it’s Cabinet day once again, a day once a year where all of Cabinet’s dreams are realized and Members’ requests are simply daunted off for yet another year.

When the Finance Minister continues to school us about discipline choices and that we must be thinking about a fiscally sustainable path, that’s become consensus talking for saying we have no money for Members’ initiatives, but don’t worry, your day will one day come.

When the government talks about fiscal restraint, I go to my dictionary and it reads they’re telling me your initiatives are about to be cut.

This budget falls short to respond to Members’ concerns and what the public wants. Members have been asked to review a budget. We looked at a 99 percent completed budget. Our advice of less than 1 percent was ignored.

The government will decry, “we are broke,” they say. But you know what? The bottom line doesn’t fall out, because we heard earlier today there was a large surplus. But rather, scaling back on their initiatives, what do they do? They cut ours.

This doesn’t reflect the trueness of consensus government in any manner. One might assume they would give us a little give and take, the things we desire on behalf of our constituents, rather than watching them be trimmed to fall to the floor.

Today represents yet another fine example of this McLeod government schooling us and saying we know best, and they continue to act like a healthy majority government. So this government will stop at saying everything and will stop at no stop by saying we are a collaborative government. But I

look and ask anyone to say, where are Members’ recommendations in this budget?

Over the coming days the government will hear continually about the shortfalls of programs that we need to invest better in, and of course, we’ll hear the response from government: No, no, no. The failure of this budget isn’t just on the Finance Minister, but I say it’s on all seven Cabinet Ministers not fulfilling their obligations of working with Members on this side of the House.

With an operating surplus of $232 million, there must have been the smallest amount of room for MLA concerns. We want more for cost of living. We want more in the Heritage Fund. The public would be shocked by how little is represented.

So, in closing, the Chinese will say this year is the year of the House, or horse. I’ll say it again one more time.

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted