LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Fort Simpson residents told the NWT's finance minister that the territorial government needs to focus more on trades training and should move more devolution-related jobs to the Deh Cho region.

Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger speaks during a budget consultation meeting in Fort Simpson on Monday evening. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo

The territory should examine focusing on teaching skilled trades in schools alongside academics

so there's a locally skilled workforce, Dennis Nelner said to Michael Miltenberger during the pre-budget consultation meeting on Monday evening.

"Let's start putting hammers and wrenches and screwdrivers in their hands and get them in the workforce," Nelner said.

The territory should stop spending as much money as it has been on infrastructure projects and focus on developing the people it has now instead of the people it wants to bring in, added Nelner.

Miltenberger said while the government wants to train kids, it has to grow the economy.

"We're too big a territory to survive on 40,000 people," Miltenberger said.

While Nelner suggested creating trade schools in each regional centre, Miltenberger said that would be fiscally impossible.

Worrying trends

Kelly Bluck, director of fiscal policy for the Department of Finance, presented an outline of the challenges the GNWT faces over the coming years.

She pointed to declining revenues, projected mine closures starting in 2019 and a population holding steady but aging as factors complicating future budgets.

As well, planned mines are smaller than existing mines.

As she highlighted charts showing declining revenue from natural resource extraction or spending nearing government income, she told the group the figures are "what keeps us up at night."

Lower and fluctuating prices for various resources on the world market makes it hard to count on revenue from that and also means lower investment from companies, she said.

Despite those points, Miltenberger said the general outlook for the territory is good.

While Miltenberger floated the possibility of increased revenues through taxes, he said that's not what the government wants to do since it would only increase the cost of living.

"We're very reluctant to raise taxes," he said.

That means looking to reduce spending where they can.

"The other issue is the crushing cost of living in the communities," Miltenberger said, adding that costs is mostly due to increasing energy prices.

The government needs to invest in alternative generation methods in communities like Fort Simpson, where there is diesel fuel used to generate power, he said.

As part of that, adding more solar power generation capacity and better batteries to store the energy collected will be examined.

Owen Rowe asked the minister not to repeat what took place in the 1990s when spending flatlined and apprenticeships ended.

Both Rowe and Miltenberger said that had a disastrous impact on the territory.

The government must favour policies that keep or bring taxpayers here and should ramp up efforts to decentralize jobs from Yellowknife, Rowe said.

People and businesses are already leaving Fort Simpson, Rowe added, telling the minister that four businesses in the village have closed since his last pre-budget visit a year ago.

"We need to show true growth in the smaller areas," he said.

It's been hard to do that, said Miltenberger.

He added that there are about 400 jobs vacant in the regional centres the government hasn't been able to fill yet.

Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche said the latest numbers he's received show around 35 of those vacancies are for entry-level positions in Fort Simpson.

Low turnout

Only three people turned out to offer Miltenberger advice on what direction they believe the government should take as it drafts its next budget.

Miltenberger was joined by three government employees who flew in from Yellowknife for the meeting on Monday evening.

The crowd was 80 per cent larger than the one he faced last year, Miltenberger said with a laugh.

It was the third stop in a seven-community tour of the territory this month by the minister.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.