Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Published Friday, January 25, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - Details are few and far between on the premier's recently-announced plans to cut $135 million from government spending, and some Yellowknife leaders think that's part of the problem.

"I hear more suggestions at the grocery store than I hear here," said Yellowknife MLA Robert Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins: "The devil is in the details." -

While he is happy to see the GNWT looking over its books, Hawkins said his support is "cautious" until he sees what potential cuts look like, a process which could take a few more weeks.

"The devil is in the details," he said.

The premier, who also serves as finance minister in this government, announced the need for cuts at a Tuesday press conference.

"There's been a fundamental shift in how we do business," Roland said at the time.

While he intended to cut $135 million in spending - just over 10 per cent of the GNWT's $1.2 billion budget - Roland said some of that money could be "reinvested" into other programs and services. Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley said the premier could have emphasized this re-allocation of funding more in his initial announcement.

"It's a more modest budget cut than it sounds like," he said - one which will take place over a number of years.

Final budget numbers are expected in May or June.

One question mark in the announcement is whether or not any GNWT jobs are going to end up on the chopping block.

"We're unclear what impact this is going to have on public servants and what impact this will have on citizens," said Todd Parsons, president of Union of Northern Workers, which represents some 4,000 GNWT workers.

Parsons said he was forwarded an e-mail sent to GNWT workers in recent weeks from Roland's office, warning them to expect job cuts.

Meanwhile, during the press conference, Roland said those workers didn't have "anything to fear."

"Uncertainty itself generates fear among the workforce," Parsons said.

Yellowknife mayor Gord Van Tighem said he wasn't concerned the cuts would affect transfer payments to the city, but rather he was concerned about the potential impact on emergency shelters and programs that support needy residents.

"A lot of the social aspect is handled by NGOs and other organizations," he said. "We're constantly hearing that they are challenged. I hope that this wouldn't increase the challenge."

Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay supported the idea of examining spending, though he was cautious as well.

"I've been saying for four years that our spending is not sustainable," Ramsay said.

Both he and Hawkins said a better approach might have been to examine spending patterns first, rather than simply setting a target. Both said they felt in the dark on the process.

"We haven't been given the level of detail that even the local media have, or people on the street have," Ramsay said.

"We don't know what the reductions are going to be, we have no idea."

Either way, the process is just beginning.

"You can rest assured that many battles will be waged over what the reductions are," Ramsay said.