Public weighs in on budget
Northern News Services
Friday, June 3, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There were several dozen people in the public gallery as Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod delivered his budget address on the floor of the legislative assembly on Wednesday.
They represented a wide cross section of the people of the Northwest Territories, including various organizations, aboriginal leaders, business representatives and former politicians.
They were generally supportive of the document, saying they realized some cuts were going to have to happen if the GNWT was to begin a path of more prudent fiscal responsibility.
Former Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro said she was pleased the cuts were not as deep as some had predicted.
"It sounds as though they have done some analysis where money is there but not being spent and so they've pulled that back and put it somewhere else," Bisaro said.
"My disappointment is that there are no new taxes and that we're putting money into mining."
One person who said he was pleasantly surprised the government is increasing investment by $1.2 million in the mineral exploration sector is Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.
"There are tough times right now in the economy and revenues are down. They can't be irresponsible. But getting an increase there I think was smart," said Hoefer.
Yellowknife Mayor Mark Heyck was traveling when the budget was released. In an e-mail to Yellowknifer he stated he is pleased that community government funding will see a two per cent increase but added much more will be required in the future to ensure communities have the financial resources to meet their needs.
"Given the GNWT's financial constraints, we recognize this will need to happen over a period of time but we still want to see a clear commitment to adopt the revised funding formulas that were created in collaboration with community governments last year," Heyck stated.
"We would have liked to have seen more investment in addressing homelessness and addictions issues although the additional funding related to implementation of the new Mental Health Act is a positive development."
Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus said he was encouraged that cuts to programs and services are not as drastic as some had feared.
The government's responsibility now is to consult with aboriginal people every step of the way as it prepares to implement millions of dollars in cuts to programs and services, said Erasmus.
