Yellowknife (Feb 04/04) - Monday's Speech from the Throne was well received by a number of leaders across the NWT but after all was said and done, everyone echoed the same thought: they hope Prime Minister Paul Martin can deliver.

- The Government of Canada is prepared to provide all municipalities with full relief from Goods and Services Taxes. In Yellowknife, that works out to about $250,000. - Provinces and territories will be part of the debate on the gas tax revenues going to cities. - The Government of Canada has allocated $3.5 billion over 10 years towards a program to clean up contaminated sites across the country. - The government plans to establish an independent Centre for First Nations Government in partnership with participants. This will help to enhance transparency and accountability to improve governance in the communities. - The Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy will be renewed. - The government will establish a Northern strategy ensuring economic development related to energy and mining is brought on stream in partnership with the North. - The government committed to universal, high-quality, publicly funded health care across the country. A new Chief Public Health Officer will also be appointed to help establish a strong and responsive public health system. - To help care for children, the government will accelerate initiatives, under the Multilateral Framework for Early Learning, which would include more quality child care spaces made available.

Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson did the honours of laying out the PM's new vision for Canada, saying it "...marks the start of a new government, a new agenda, a new way of working."

Topping the list of "new" promises is a pledge to provide all municipalities in Canada with full relief from the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Yellowknife Mayor Gordon Van Tighem said this did not come as a major surprise.

"It's a way the government could meet some of those financial commitments made (in the past)," he said, adding the GST refund amount -- nearly $250,000 for Yellowknife -- is only equivalent to about two per cent of the city's property tax roll.

"What it would do is offset potential tax increases," said Van Tighem.

Recently, the city raised taxes by 0.7 per cent, which could become the target of further discussion in the near future.

Until the money is in the city bank account, however, Van Tighem is holding off on any decisions.

"Right now, it's just a speech from the throne," he said. "We (city council) haven't had any meetings about it."

Over the next 10 years, the GST rebate to municipalities across Canada should come out to a $7 billion injection of cash.

This particular throne speech has made more references to the North than any in the past, noted Joe Handley, saying this made him one happy premier.

In particular, Handley said the Aboriginal agenda looks promising, as well as the $3.5 billion-dollar pledge towards environmental clean-up.

But what had the premier smiling the most was the PM's promise of developing a Northern strategy to ensure economic development related to energy and mining is done in partnership with the North

"This is something I have been pushing for," Handley said. "That is exactly what I talked to him about last week."

Handley said this proves Martin is listening and furthermore, that he is taking the concerns of Northern leaders seriously.

"I am pretty confident that he believes in (the North)," said Handley. "Not many people can argue with what he said."

Meanwhile, Western Arctic (Liberal) MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew is very optimistic about the prime minister's words and pleased with the amount of attention focused on the Northern region.

"I definitely think the profile has been elevated," she said, adding three items in particular prove the Canadian government is stepping up their relationship with the territories.

Martin's referral to devolution, the Northern environment and the Northern pipeline send a good signal the feds have been listening to each other, as well as to the territorial leaders, Blondin-Andrew noted.

"I'm very optimistic," she said. "I look forward to continuing on and moving ahead with the Northern agenda."