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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The NWT was the lone jurisdiction in Canada to report a decrease in population in the past year, despite being home to the highest average personal income in the country.

A Statistics Canada report stated the population of the territory dropped to 43,283 by July 1 of this year from 43,535 last year - a decrease of 0.6 per cent. The decline is a result of residents moving from the NWT to live elsewhere in Canada.

On the first day of the legislative assembly's fall session, six MLAs stood up and addressed the rising cost of living, and some said it was driving residents away.

They were concerned that out-migration may increase further due to two factors: potential power rate hikes now being considered by the Public Utilities Board and increased taxes proposed by the territorial government.

In question period, MLAs grilled Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger - to the point where he later joked that he had fielded more questions on Wednesday than he did in the entire previous session.

Robert Hawkins, MLA for Yellowknife Centre, called any new tax initiative the "last straw" for many NWT residents.

"I encourage the minister to listen very carefully because you can hear the caravan of people exiting the territory," said Hawkins.

The Yellowknife MLA recommended that the government recruit and retain residents, as each citizen of the territory counts toward the amount of federal transfer money the government of the NWT receives each year.

"People equal money and if we continue on the track we are on right now, we won't have anyone left to tax because everybody will be gone," said Dave Ramsay, MLA for Kam Lake.

Ramsay said there are 3,300 migrant workers earning $330 million in the NWT, and they take it south each year.

"The government should be doing everything in its power to try and attract these workers to live in the Northwest Territories," he said.

Miltenberger reiterated that the government's letter on tax proposals is a revenue option made public for consultation - in order to generate the $40 million in revenue the government said it needs over the next two years.

He said a rising population would raise revenue.

"What we are looking at are ways to grow the population," he said.

The finance minister said the government was looking to sign onto a territorial nominee immigration program to bring in workers for "jobs that are begging to be filled." He said this could bring in 150 workers this year, which would look more like 400 when families were taken into account.

The government was also looking to work with mines to encourage at least 100 workers who currently fly in and out of the North to live in the NWT, Miltenberger said.

Mines could offer higher Northern-living and housing allowances as incentives, he said, to encourage people to make the territory their home.

Adding those 100 workers and potential families, Miltenberger estimated 800 new residents could be recruited in a year.

Factoring in the federal funding formula, where the GNWT gets $22,000 in federal transfer payments for each resident - that would bring the government closer to the $40 million they are looking to gain.

The Statistics Canada report stated Canada had experienced a 1.2 per cent increase, while both Nunavut and the Yukon saw an increase in population with respective spikes of 0.6 and 1.7 per cent.

Vishni Peeris, demographic and social statistician with the NWT Bureau of Statistics, said the population numbers are not completely definitive. "It's an estimation process," she said.

Statistics Canada takes numbers from the latest census and adds births and subtracts deaths from this total. They then estimate interprovincial migration, and immigration from outside Canada by examining the Canada Child Tax Benefit and other tax records filed in each jurisdiction.

Peeris said estimates have a margin of error that it is not calculable.