With revenues on a downward slide, MLAs and advocates are chiding the government for a tired approach to growing the economy.
“The government has done literally nothing to look at raising more revenues,” Kevin O'Reilly, MLA for Frame Lake, told Yellowknifer recently.
O'Reilly said the GNWT could be raising tens of millions more in mining royalties and tax dollars than it is currently, but a review of the regime won't happen during this government's term.
“Why did we bother to get devolution if we can't look at something as fundamental as revenues from resources?” he asked.
The GNWT expects to bring in more through tobacco taxes in 2018-19 ($16 million) than from mineral, oil and gas royalties ($13.4 million).
“There's something wrong with that picture,” said O'Reilly.
The 2018-19 budget projects a 2.9 per cent drop in revenues from the previous year's revised estimates – about $53 million less than 2017-18.
Apart from a bump in 2016-17, primarily due to a federal investment in the Inuvik to Tuktoyuktuk Highway, revenues have been declining for the last four years.
No new taxes or tax increases have been proposed as part of the $1.7-billion budget. The anticipated sugary drinks tax didn't make it in, and a land transfer tax proposal is still in the works.
Kieron Testart, MLA for Kam Lake, said if the people of NWT ever hope to be “masters of our own house” the territorial government must convince Ottawa to eliminate the debt cap.
The NWT can borrow up to $1.3 billion from the federal government. The territory's total debt is expected to hit $1.05 billion by March 31, 2019.
“We know we're going to hit that debt ceiling, it's only a matter of time, so having it in my opinion does not help develop the territory,” said Testart.
“If we decide now is the time to dip into deficit and invest heavily in our economy, create jobs and create growth, just like Ottawa has done, we can't do that because Ottawa controls the purse strings.”
Testart said it will take more than mining revenues to lift the territory out of its slump, and suggested shifting the focus to other areas of economic development.
“The creative industry in Canada employs more people than forestry, mining, fishing and the Armed Forces combined,” he said.
“Graphic designers, architects, media professionals, people who work in film, digital media – all these jobs could exist here, but we need to actually empower the creative talent to make it happen.”
Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne said time spent developing a fiscal strategy and “belt-tightening” has meant work on key pieces of legislation has been delayed.
“We had a pretty good list of legislation that we wanted to pass at the beginning of this assembly, and in my view, we haven't done as good a job as we should,” he said.
Vanthuyne hopes the new Mineral Resources Act is passed before the next election.
Shane Thompson's biggest concern is the proposed 50 per cent cut to the multisport games budget, which funds athletes' travel to the Arctic Winter Games, the North American Indigenous Games, the Canada Winter and Summer Games, and others.
The MLA for Nahendeh is hopeful however, that the final budget will set aside money for two government service officers in the communities.
These officers help people navigate the GNWT bureaucracy, said Thompson, and provide a “one-stop shop” for everything from income assistance to financial aid for students.
Thompson, O'Reilly and Testart all supported increasing funding for the arts.
Alternatives North is happy to see $1.3 million earmarked for an agriculture strategy, and $412,000 for a country food strategy that would support hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering.
Spokesperson Ben McDonald said regions that were previously centres for oil and gas development, such as the Sahtu and Inuvik, could benefit from increased support for tourism, local food production, forestry and fishing.
“A small investment in either infrastructure to support those businesses, or in the people that want to do those businesses, could result in jobs that are going to be permanent in the forever sense, not just permanent in the life of a mine,” he said.
Other investments proposed in the 2018-19 budget include:
- $2.1 million to fund Junior Kindergarten all the communities;
- $4.3 million for French and Indigenous language training in schools;
- $1.6 million to expand the Northern Distance Learning program, which brings students and teachers together via video, to 20 small schools;
- a $2.4 million increase to income assistance to address the growing need for income, rent and utility cost support;
- and $595,000 to advance and finalize self-government agreements with Indigenous governments.
“When we set our fiscal objectives we knew that achieving them would require difficult choices,” said Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod during his budget address.
“We believe that in the medium term we will start to see modest revenue increases, but we will need to continue to manage our financial resources very carefully so that we do not compromise our ability to deliver quality programs and services and our ability to take steps to address the issues we face as a territory.”