Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One cannot avoid, as of late, observing all the traveling occurring within our government. Taxpayers see travel to places such as China and Japan for fur and mineral exports and, most recently, to Ottawa in support for NWT Days. Most residents would agree the Government of the Northwest Territories has an obligation to support and promote, both globally and nationally, an open-for-business position. This is a given. But it’s the blurred line of government travel that always has to be put in perspective.
Without exception, our presence in a competitive world economy is paramount, but the question is: how do we as a government evaluate such expenditure, what are our performance indicators for such spending, and how do we weigh the merits of multiple excursions to far off lands? With a population base of only 40,000 and with our limited budget, we have an obligation to proceed with utmost caution and to weigh potential consequences in all our government travel and spending.
To put this to the test, last session this Chamber undertook a great debate on the issue of junior kindergarten and its questionable rollout, but more importantly of its ill-conceived funding model. Although this JK rollout cost only a mere $750,000, it was deemed impossible for this government to find money from within current budgets, and sadly, to this day, they continue to dig their heels in defiance.
I’m sure many of us have been asking the question if they, being Cabinet, can find three-quarters of a million dollars for travel to China and Ottawa from within their budgets, then surely we can do the same for such ill-funded new initiatives as junior kindergarten. Yes, we know this government has a spending problem; yes, we have hit a debt wall of worry again; and yes, we have heard from our Finance Minister that we need to do more than just keep the lights on. All I ask, Mr. Speaker, let’s put in perspective what we spend, how we spend it and what’s really important to the people we serve. Thank you.