Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left, I have Penny Ballantyne, the secretary to Cabinet and deputy minister of the Executive. To my right, I have Michael Aumond, the secretary to the Financial Management Board and deputy minister of Finance.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to return to the “Economy, Environment and Climate Change” section.

The Member has requested we return to the “Economy, Environment and Climate Change” section. Mr. Testart.

Mr. Chair, I move that Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 be amended on page 11 by inserting the words, “We will reduce taxes on small businesses.” Thank you, Mr. Chair.

A motion is on the floor. The motion is now being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In times of economic uncertainty, it is incumbent on this government to provide support to the areas of our economy that work hard to support the activities in our community, create jobs, and continue to provide economic boosts to our local economies. A tax cut on small business is exactly the kind of thing we need to start looking at and start implementing to encourage business growth and to further diversify our economy. This is a small measure, but it will go a long way in helping those who work hard. Many of my constituents and voters during the election raised this issue, that it was getting much too expensive to do business in the North, and we need to start realizing opportunities for them to save money on their operations and further support employment in the private sector, which of course withstands the boom-and-bust cycle that has limited our ability to maintain government spending at the level that previous Assemblies enjoyed. We do need to do more to diversify our economy to support the private sector and this amendment to the mandate provides certainty and clarity to our business community and to the residents of the Northwest Territories that we will in fact support economic diversification and support hard-working northern businesses. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. I'm seeing no more names on my list. To the motion. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Government of the Northwest Territories offers a wide range of programs to assist entrepreneurs get established and grow their businesses. For example, Industry, Tourism and Investment has a network of regional offices staffed by experienced, well-trained economic development officers who assist and advise small businesses on a daily basis. One of the key functions is to recommend funding sources such as the Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development, better known as the SEED policy for contributions or community futures, and the Business Development Investment Corporation for loan financing. SEED in particular is very flexible and can provide funding for a diverse range of activities from developing business plans, marketing, purchasing equipment, visiting trade shows, and business networking. These programs do not just support start-ups but can assist the business at every stage of their operation. Industry, Tourism, and Investment also offers very specific sector programming. For example, tourism operators can access funding under the Tourism Product Diversification and Marketing Program to expand their businesses and market their programs. Agriculture programming can also pay for bringing land into production or capital equipment, or subsidize the delivery or products to customers in other communities. In the fisheries sector, Industry, Tourism, and Investment is working with fisheries to revitalize the Great Slave Lake fishery. A manufacturing marketing plan is creating awareness of manufacturing opportunities in the Northwest Territories. In addition, regional offices conduct workshops throughout the year related to every stage of the business cycle. The Business Development Investment Corporation also maintains both a physical and online business resource centre that is a resource on a wide range of relevant topics for individuals and businesses. There is a suite of support systems for small businesses provided by the government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. To the motion. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, a one per cent reduction in small business rate is equivalent to about $700,000 in revenue in the total GNWT, as I've been saying the last little while, that is used to fund programs and services are projected to decline over the next five years. The reduction itself would only impact a small number of businesses in the NWT, and this reduction would not cause anyone to start a small business. The number of small businesses operating in the NWT has been declining over the last few years due to various factors impacting our regional economies, for example down in the Sahtu, due to the downturn in the oil and gas industry. We should be looking at providing direct support to small businesses through grants and contributions, rather than lower taxes as small businesses that require government support do not have large revenue or large profit, and hence do not pay a lot, if any, corporate tax. We've heard a few times from some of the Regular Members that one of the options that they would like to see is to increase the taxes rather than reduce them to help offset any revenue loss. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. To the motion. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and with respect to the previous speaker's comments, I'd like to indicate that, as a small business owner, I'll find myself in support of the motion. More and more we're seeing in the North small businesses are seeing growing overheads, I am grateful for the current GNWT entrepreneurial support. That's certainly greatly appreciated. However, a tax reduction will be supportive of small business revenue growth, and that ultimately supports hiring and training and again, supports economic growth. I see this as an incentive for the growth of small business and I will be in support. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. To the motion.

Question has been called. I would call upon Mr. Testart to conclude the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Of critical importance is, although only a small number of businesses would benefit, there are only a small number of businesses in the Northwest Territories to begin with, and that's exactly the kind of thing we need to start changing. I thank the premier for outlining some of the programs we currently have to support entrepreneurs and private sector enterprises. Those are good programs and they should be expanded. Although this tax relief measure will result in lessened government revenues, it is something we can definitely afford, and again, we need to provide a plan for economic recovery and tax relief for our business community, especially our small business community. This is exactly the kind of strong signal we need to send: That the North is open for business and is investing in our private sector. I encourage everyone to support this motion as we move forward to concluding this mandate. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that Table Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019, be amended on page 13 by inserting the words “We will review and develop amendments to the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act in light of devolution to ensure a defined revenue stream and stronger public governance.”

Thank you, Mr. Testart. The motion is on the floor and is now being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Heritage Fund is an excellent way to keep a resource wealth here in the Northwest Territories for the use of future generations. One of the items of the transition report of the last Assembly was to do work on the Heritage Fund Act to do exactly what this amendment calls for: To create a defined revenue stream and stronger public governance of the fund. Right now, the revenue stream going into the fund is more or less defined by an agreement from the Minister of Finance, and it is the opinion of many that this needs to be looked at and defined by legislation so there is a reliable flow of cash into the Fund that can be used to generate stronger dividends for use by this government going forward. We are looking for revenue options and the Heritage Fund, if properly utilized, could be a way to create those dividends we need to expand our revenues and, again, keep our resource wealth in the Northwest Territories for the use of future generations. This amendment will allow this government to move forward on this and propose the kinds of amendments we need to make this source of additional revenue possible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I note that in the proposed mandate, on page 13, the same section that we're talking about, there is a long list of legislation that the Cabinet has proposed that we review in light of devolution. They include a new Mineral Resources Act, the amendments to the Northwest Territories Mining Regulations, the NWT Lands Act, the Commissioner's Lands Act, the Territorial Parks Act, the Petroleum Resources Act, the Oil and Gas Operations Act, the Waters Act, the Environmental Protection Act, and the Forest Management Act. That's a good list, but I don't understand why the review of the Heritage Fund Act was not included in this section. It's something that was certainly raised to me during the election as a constituent. I mentioned it in this House as part of the priorities that I ran on in the election. This has been an interesting ongoing debate, I know, in this House because every budget, it's decided how much, if anything, to actually put into the Heritage Fund. Basically, it's completely discretionary, done on a case-by-case, year-by-year basis. With devolution, we are now at a point where we are beginning to collect some of our own resource revenues, and with an increased revenue stream coming into the territorial government, we need to look at how and how much we should be devoting on a regular basis into the Heritage Fund.

Other jurisdictions have grown these over time. Alberta is not exactly a great example, but certainly, the Norway Pension Fund is now over a trillion dollars. They ensure that all of their resource revenues go into that fund. They actually have state ownership in the oil and gas sector as well, that helps put that money into the fund, but it’s provided a great deal of stability to the economy in Norway and allowed them to actually surpass Canada in terms of their standard of living. I’m not suggesting that we need to immediately jump to the kind of fund that Norway has, but in light of these new responsibilities that we have inherited, we do have a duty to ourselves and our future generations to improve upon what's in that act, make sure that there’s a defined revenue stream going into the fund, and also look at how it should be governed. Right now, it is governed through the Financial Management Board, which is fine, but most other funds that are set up in other jurisdictions have a much stronger element of public governance, even arm’s-length in some cases, so that the way that those funds are invested are reviewed on a regular basis. Some funds actually establish environmental and social screens on how the money is to be invested. I think that would be something wise and something that we may want to consider at some point, but to not have it appear in the mandate, I think, is not the way that we should be going in light of devolution. If we are going to be looking at all this other legislation, let's make sure that we also look at the Heritage Fund Act as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O’Reilly. To the motion. Mr. Nadli.