Mr. Speaker, today I am going to provide my response to the 2022 Budget Address, which was tabled by the Minister of Finance last week on February 22, 2022. As I prepared my budget reply, I reviewed my speech from last year's budget reply and much of what I said last year is largely still how I feel today about this year's budget.

Mr. Speaker, as someone with several decades of experience with business in the private sector, my primary focus has almost always been about the economy. First of all, now that our government is changing its approach towards COVID-19 and treating the virus as an endemic rather than a pandemic, it is now high time that our government also shifts its approach toward the economic recovery. I've said this before and I will say it again, if we don't have an economy then we don't have money to pay for all the social programs or services.

Mr. Speaker, at the moment our government is not on a sustainable fiscal path. We have an ever-increasing amount of debt, and we are already very close to our federally-imposed debt ceiling. At this rate by this time next year, if not sooner, we are more than likely going to need to ask the federal government to raise our borrowing limit which would be the second time doing so during the 19th Assembly. That's twice our borrowing limit would increase within just three years. Our debt is rising at an accelerated pace, and it is going much faster than our revenue streams can keep up with. That is worrisome.

Our government needs to find some concrete, long-term solutions in addressing the debt that we continue to accumulate. I am not seeing that in this budget address for 2022.

Mr. Speaker, further adding to our fiscal uncertainties is the record level of national inflation that Canada has reached. Statistics Canada reported last month that the country has reached a 31-year high for inflation, by increasing 5.1 percent since last January. Costs in the NWT for consumer goods have increased for just about everything.

I shared several statistics last week about the costs going up for everything from food to shelter to gasoline. These costs hurt everyone, but especially people who are low income, persons with disabilities, and seniors. Plus, with a war brewing in Eastern Europe, costs for goods will almost surely increase even further. The world finds itself going from fighting a global pandemic into what I hope will not be a global war. I understand that this a worrying statement to make but that is the reality we are living in right now.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, another major issue that the NWT is facing is a crisis of housing. There are housing waiting lists that are sky-high in all communities and regions of the NWT. In Fort Smith alone, there are 212 people on the housing waiting list and some folks have been on that list for many years. There is not nearly enough housing supply being created to keep up with the needs of the communities.

There are also many structural and inherent flaws within the NWT Housing Corporation as it currently stands. There are many outdated policies it has which simply do not help people. Mr. Speaker, despite our government releasing the Emerging Stronger document last May, I have not seen any real substantive plan outlining economic recovery for the NWT.

For the last two years our government has been reactive to the evolving situation around COVID-19. Much of the response towards the economy was to provide temporary financial relief to help industries stay afloat and not close entirely. Well, we've now entered a new chapter with COVID-19 therefore our government must now shift how it engages with the economy. We need more collaboration with Indigenous governments and organizations, such as the NWT Indigenous Leaders Economic Coalition. We need more results on the review of our government's procurement policy. An Indigenous procurement policy and improvements to the Business Incentive Policy are needed as soon as possible. We need to eliminate inefficient and time-consuming red tape in certain areas.

Moreover, Mr. Speaker, we also need to advance the work on settling and implementing the various treaty, land, resource, and self-government agreements. Doing so we would create greater economic stability and conditions to attract and secure more investments in the NWT. We also need to consider devolving certain powers and responsibilities to Indigenous governments. That would cut costs by our government and provide greater autonomy to Indigenous governments. Changes in those areas would go a long way to improving our long-term economic outlook in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, we also need to continue to pursue large infrastructure projects, such as the Mackenzie Highway, the Slave Geological Corridor, and the Taltson Hydro Expansion. These projects need to go forward, and they need to be done in partnership with Indigenous governments. We also need to continue with other projects such as the new territorial fire centre and construction of new seniors facilities that are currently underway in several NWT communities.

Overall, Mr. Speaker, given the unprecedented situation we endured with the pandemic and the speed with which governments acted in responding to it, our government now must also respond with urgency and haste toward our economic situation. I've said this before, we need to be able to think outside the box and to move with greater pace to improve our delicate economic situation. We need to come up with innovative ways to retain more of the wealth that is generated here in the NWT. We need to find new sources of revenue to help with our debt load, and the best way to do that is to increase the level of business and economic activity across the NWT. That is how we pay the bills and create a stronger economy for future generations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.