Daryl Dolynny

Good afternoon, committee. I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 281-17(5), Capital Estimates, 2016-2017. We’ve also agreed to begin with general comments. Does the Minister of Finance wish to bring witnesses into the House? Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. We’ll go to Minister Miltenberger for a reply.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 14 on the order sheet, tabling of documents. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. I’ll allow Minister Miltenberger a reply.

Again, it’s painfully clear that you’ve had meetings with some of our northern colleagues. There have been some reports not knowing whether or not it had a full impact to the NWT economy, but the Premier did formally write to all federal election leaders and although the letter did not cite northern deduction per se, only one federal leader replied specific to this deduction.

Can the Premier formally indicate, aside from this single letter writing campaign that we have heard during this federal election, what formal collaborative lobbying efforts are in place to secure an increase to northern...

Thank you, Mr. Guy. Mr. Menicoche, you have a few minutes left on the clock. I will let you have that opportunity.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to dredge up my Member’s statement from June 3, 2015. I talked about putting more cash in Northerners’ pockets. It’s a known fact that the northern residents deduction was implemented to stimulate growth in the NWT by helping compensate for the high cost of living. Sadly, this initiative has not kept up with inflation, and with a paltry 10 percent increase in 2008 we are left wondering why the Finance Minister or Premier have failed to consider this specifically. I’m talking about the Population Growth Strategy. My questions today are for the Premier.

Can...

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. For a reply, we’ll go to Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we approach the final days of the 17th Legislative Assembly, it’s only fitting that we take the time to evaluate the fiscal performance and accountability of the McLeod government.

Some may say things are going well; others may posture that this post-devolution government has the worst performance record since the modern era of consensus system of government. No matter what one may think, it’s about what you can measure. So, it’s really about the numbers; it’s about our operational spending; it’s about our capital spending; it’s about our limited revenue options; it’s...

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. We’ll allow the Minister to reply. Mr. Miltenberger.