Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, this isn't just, to be clear, a function of the circumstances of the labour market shortages that all of Canada and the world are experiencing today. This is reflective of, you know, the last ten years that we saw that, you know, the average spend in the last ten years year over year is around $250 million per year. So it's not new that we simply don't have the capacity in the North alone to be getting out to have much more than that spent in any particular given year. So it's not entirely a function of current labour market shortages. It is a function in part of general labour shortages in the North. You know, and to that I would say that over the course of that time, certainly before my time here or, you know, at the time of the 19th Assembly there have been efforts at increasing the population through, you know, various forms of recruitment. And they've also obviously not been successful. So, you know, I don't know that that alone is going to entirely solve the problem. I think there should be a broader look at increasing the population, increasing the economy, having a positive and pleasant and wonderful place to come and live and work as we all know it to be. Does that change the fact that for the last ten years or more the capital budget has been oversized relative to what we could perform? No, it doesn't. So fixing this problem doesn't mean we don't want to look at increasing the population. But I just want to kind of separate out that that isn't necessarily going to take away the reasons that we've done now what we've done now, which is to right size the capital plan, reduce the need to borrow, and to put money into planning. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Caroline Wawzonek on Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on October 19th, 2022. See this statement in context.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 19th, 2022
Page 4712
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