Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, there’s a number of reasons why business is not as lively across the Northwest Territories as it usually is. Part of it is because of lack of investment, and what we’re trying to do going through the exercise that we’re going through now is to have more money that we can invest into more opportunities for our businesses to take advantage of some of the money that we will make available. Again, it is an issue that needs further discussion, and I have committed to being a part of those discussions with the Members across the floor, and with my Cabinet colleagues as well. Thank you...

Mr. Speaker, I can’t make that commitment here as to what’s going to be in the next budget without going through the budget planning process, and as part of that process is the business planning process in September, which we take part in along with the Regular Members. I’m sure the issue will be raised at the time, and it’s something that we can determine then, if it’s financially viable to include into next year’s budget cycle.

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my opening response, the federal government has accepted responsibility for historical remediation or liabilities. However, on a go-forward basis, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, they monitor the activities of the mineral and development petroleum companies operating in the NWT and including the financial status of the company and the work is delivered through ITI’s financial analysis and royalties administration division. As much as we would like all the companies operating in the NWT to be financially stable, our main concern is to ensure that we...

Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes, the administration and control of the site has been transferred to the GNWT. However, through provisions of the devolution agreement, any historic liabilities are still the responsibility of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the environmental remediation would be the responsibility of the owners. If the town owns the land, responsibility for remediation would be theirs. If the GNWT owns the land, then the responsibility for the remediation would be the GNWT’s. We have an Environmental Liabilities Committee, which would do an assessment whether contamination exists on the land and so the land would go to on our environmental liabilities list and would be remediated according to the GNWT priority and procedures. Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where whoever owns the property would be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my first advice to the town would be to seek some advice from their lawyer or their accountant and in fact, I would advise all communities that find themselves in this similar situation to seek the proper advice. If the $685,000, or $600,000, just close to $700,000 is owed for property taxes, the town does have the ability to explore the recovery taxes as per the Property Assessment and Taxation Act, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

I appreciate the Member letting the department drive the bus when it’s convenient for Members on the other side. We will work with the Members as we have committed to do, and bring in a lot of the issues in the mandate forward. There’s times where we try being erased to the bottom with the other jurisdictions across the country as far as business tax go, and in our case, because of the high cost of delivering programs and services up here, it gets to be a little unaffordable. I have made the commitment to work with Members opposite when we go through our business planning process, and as we...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Minister’s comment is absolutely correct. The $250,000 that the Member speaks of, the numbers in here, the overall budget for the department won’t change, and the Minister has made a commitment, and I think we made a written commitment to reinstate that $250,000, and they will find the money, as the Minister explained, in some other areas of the department. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. You know, there will be more interest in a lot of these procurement processes because the amounts are available, but again it was encouragement we got from the business community. BIP would still apply to these, and I can assure the Member and all Members that we take all steps necessary to ensure that our northern-based businesses have a fair opportunity and a good opportunity to secure these contracts.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is we produce those every year and I will make a commitment to the Member that we will share those. Thank you.