Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'm going to talk about the funding gap between the small communities, regional centres, and that of the capital. Mr. Speaker, as an MLA representing a regional centre in the NWT, it is challenging at times to constantly have to fight for funding to be allocated to my community for certain initiatives, projects, or programs. I find myself getting frustrated and discouraged at times because it is always a battle between the capital and other regional centres and small communities for who or what gets funding. The rationale for where and what gets funding is sometimes unclear, unreasonable, and not logical.

Mr. Speaker, some communities are always taken care of no matter what. It's just a matter that the allocations of the budgets do not seem to be fair and do not address the needs of regional centres and small communities. The majority of these allocations almost always come at the expense of smaller communities and regional centres.

Mr. Speaker, I often wonder how budgetary funding allocation decisions are made by Cabinet. Is it broken down on a percentage basis, or is it allocated to each region and community based on population, on a per capita basis? Is it based on the needs and priorities of the government? Or is the budget based on the subjective views and opinions of Cabinet alone? These are very open questions.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that budgets always need to be negotiated. And being an MLA, it is not an easy job. However, I do not think this process needs to be as demoralizing or hostile as it can sometimes be. I also understand that regional politics has always been a factor in our democracy on both a national and territorial scale. That is the nature of our system. However, we also need to be able to bridge that divide and work together to find a mutual solution for all communities and regions. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to complete my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Mr. Speaker, the small communities and regional centres seem to always be fighting over crumbs within our territorial budget. That does not seem fair at all and does not seem to be in line with the values of consensus government in my eyes. In fact, I sometimes question the effectiveness of consensus government given the way that some things are done in this building.

Overall, Mr. Speaker, I think our territorial budgetary process needs to be reevaluated as it currently stands. In my opinion, funding in our budget is allocated unevenly and is leaving the smaller communities and regional centres with less. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.