Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, Mr. Chairman, we will be able to track how purchases are done and how effective this may be. We do tracking already on the existing operations we have just in cost of product and so on, and the trend has been an upward one over the years. But for this purpose, yes, we will have to make sure we put in a good tracking system.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I don’t have a scenario to present to Members about the actual impacts of litres that were purchased and how much potential savings there are. All I can go towards right now is if we had this tool available when the prices started to go up and if we were able to purchase on the future market, just looking at the percentages that have happened, we’ve had some products go up by almost 50 percent from what the price was. So if we were able to buy just as it were starting to climb, we could have saved a significant amount of dollars. We had some large...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the bill that’s presented would allow us to deal with the impacts of fuel prices before we get it delivered into the tanks. There is no provision in the act itself to deal with the fluctuating costs throughout the year. The policy that we’ve been directed to fulfill is to recover actual costs of product delivered into those tanks. In some cases, that can work in a positive way for some of the communities because if we can get a price product delivered at a time of year when the prices are somewhat lower and as they increase throughout the year, other...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the bill that’s before Members will give us some flexibility in how we go and get our fuel. But ultimately what we’re faced with is paying the price of the product when it is delivered in the tanks, and beyond that there is no more flexibility because the policy we have set in place now is that we have to pay for the actual product that is delivered. We’re still not charging for the capital that’s there, the tankage and so on. But for the product delivered, we’re having to recover actual costs. So that’s what the Member’s communities are feeling.

All...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the financial front, our negotiations have been working with the Aboriginal Summit and leaders across the Territories. We continue to do that. For the specific details of where certain files are sitting, I would have to have the Premier try to provide some information there. But on the front overall, our stance is still the same. We have to work together in the Northwest Territories with our partners in the North being aboriginal governments and organizations, to come up with a common message so that we can, in fact, show that we are unified in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've not only in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon and provinces across Canada have raised the issue of fiscal imbalance with Ottawa on a regular basis; in fact, to the point where Finance Ministers have pushed on it so that the Premiers have now become involved and directed through the Council of the Federation that another panel be established. The federal government has recognized it by establishing an expert panel. We need to see what their reports will come out as, and then what will the federal government do with those reports, what...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is my honour and privilege today to stand before you and Members of this Legislative Assembly to present the budget for the Northwest Territories for 2006-07. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Cabinet colleagues and the standing committees for their input, particularly for the committees’ work on pre-budget consultations.

---Applause

This budget comes at an historic time. Many of us have looked ahead with hope to the day when the Northwest Territories would be self-reliant and strong, with a thriving economy, jobs and opportunities for our people. Today...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before we get to radical solutions or options that may be out there, there's a new government in Ottawa. We have to take a different stance, we have to get the message to them, and I'm looking for the opportunity I get to sit down with the new Finance Minister to see if he thinks the arguments, the business case that we put forward is adequate or not adequate to go with what we're asking for. That will then entail what we'll need to do as a jurisdiction. But ultimately, the message that is initially sent out about fiscal imbalance is a good one....

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I announced back in our last sitting, the corporate tax situation we faced, we went from projecting a surplus of about $40 million down to where we are identifying now…In fact, at one time we predicted we would go into a slight deficit position. But because of adjusting our budget, we’ve managed to stay out of that area. But the immediate impact of our higher tax rates and the fiscal arrangements we have in Ottawa right now is that companies have started to move their file to other jurisdictions. In fact, as well, our estimates of companies paying...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know that in the upcoming fiscal year, the year we’ve announced, July 1st, in that fiscal year, it is in abeyance. It’s a three-year agreement that could go to five years, as some of the indications that we’ve received. Ultimately, if a new arrangement is made with Ottawa and federal Finance about the fiscal arrangements in place or that will be put in place as a result of the expert panel report and the Council of Federation work, we’ll have some discussions about that risk and reward sides. Right now it is punitive. If it were to come back with the existing...