Jobs,tolls and tourism dominate meeting with GNWT Cabinet
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (May 11/01) - Fort Simpson's political leaders had a full slate of issues to address when they met with cabinet Friday, and stepping up regionalization topped the list.
Relocating more government departments and jobs to Fort Simpson is important, Mayor Tom Wilson told the ministers.
"We said that we want the full compliment," Wilson said following the meeting. "We want to be dealing from the municipality to the region to Yellowknife, not having to go through Hay River or (Fort) Smith. We brought that up more than once."
Wilson said every job counts. He added that the minsters seemed non-committal on the subject.
Finance Minister Joe Handley said regionalization will have to be correlated with aboriginal self-government to avoid overlap and duplication.
Jim Antoine, minister of aboriginal affairs and MLA for Nahendeh, said he has always viewed Fort Simpson as a natural centre for the Deh Cho. He acknowledged that some government departments still have a few senior positions in Fort Smith, but suggested that Yellowknife should also be looked at more closely in terms of transferring positions.
"It's in line with the government initiative of capacity building," said Antoine, who added that self-government certainly doesn't have to be complete before jobs are transferred.
"It makes sense to get ready in advance," he said.
On the issue of the GNWT's new transportation toll of five cents per ton per kilometres on transport trucks, Handley said the GNWT is also planning to increase the cost of ;iving tax credit.
That way, consumers in the NWT won't bear the brunt of the new levy when trucking companies increase their rates and the price of groceries and other goods subsequently climb.
"The net should be no increase for average citizens in the North," Handley said.
The toll is being instituted to help the government pay for maintenance to the NWT's roads, which are deteriorating under the strain of increasing truck traffic.
Finally, on the issue of tourism, the GNWT lost close to $1 million in revenue when the proposed hotel tax was killed, according to Handley. However, he said he has a meeting with the Canadian Tourism Association this week and would be seeking more ways to access cost-shared funds.
"We haven't given up on it. There's too much potential in tourism," he said.
