Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance also with regard to the budget address. It was very interesting listening to all the feedback that came in following the budget address yesterday in the media and to hear the Finance Minister being interviewed last night on Northbeat and on CBC this morning, and to hear the people's responses on the budget address. Overall, on balance, it seemed like it wasn't that unfavourable.

But nestled in the budget address, kind of in an inconspicuous place under fiscal strategy, it states in the longer term we will need to...

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Then to allay peoples’ fears about a mass exodus of corporate taxpayers in the Northwest Territories, then what you are saying is it wouldn’t be realistic to assume that if someone had the lion’s share of their activities taking place in the Northwest Territories and had a corporate office say in Edmonton or Vancouver, that they could legally file their corporate tax return in another jurisdiction to obtain a lower rate. Could the Minister confirm that that is the case? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Finance Minister, what was our corporate tax rate at the time that we received those filings, which resulted in what we came to fondly refer to as tax windfalls? Thank you, and what was the rate?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before my colleague Mr. Delorey gets a chance to recognize my constituency assistant, I thought I should jump up and do it.

---Laughter

I would like to recognize Wendy Morgan in the gallery. Wendy was my assistant in part of the 13th, the 14th and now in the 15th Assembly. So I want to thank her and recognize her today. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 1, Appropriation Act, 2004-2005, and would like to report progress and, Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What is the wish of the committee? We have Bill 1 before us today. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad to hear that because that was one question I was going to ask. I was going to ask what kind of a timetable, because, as I said at the beginning of my preamble on my first question, time is of the essence. So we need to move on this fairly quickly, and we need to be very proactive. I don't think the Premier's reference to a department of which he didn't know the name in RWED is really that visible a source of support or information for communities and other governments. So I want to know what the plan is to raise the visibility of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Premier provided the right answer today when asked by the Member for the Sahtu whether or not this government is prepared to, in correspondence with the federal government's initiative, form some kind of a committee with a mandate to oversee some of the issues related to the pipeline. I think that time is of the essence on this. There are lots of communities that are waiting with a great deal of anticipation to learn how they can plug in and benefit from a lot of different benefits which may accrue to northerners as a result of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I just want to confirm that when some corporations filed their tax returns in the Northwest Territories and paid taxes to our jurisdiction, some of those were received while our corporate tax rate was 14 percent. So what would have been the incentive or motivation for those companies to file with us at 14 percent if Alberta was sitting at 12.5 percent? What would have attracted those and how could we encourage more of that? Thank you.