N.W.T. budget passes with massive concessions

Despite a long and often contentious debate, Northwest Territories MLAs unanimously passed the government's budget on Tuesday, thanks to $4 million worth of concessions.

Premier Floyd Roland, who is also the finance minister, delivered the $1.2-billion budget on May 22 in Yellowknife, proposing more than 100 cuts to the territorial civil service and $19 million less in spending compared with last year's revised estimates. The proposed cuts included the closure of the Arctic Tern Young Offender Facility in Inuvik, N.W.T.

Many members of the legislative assembly complained the budget didn't reflect the priorities they had agreed to.

After nearly four weeks of discussion, MLAs passed more than 30 motions that made changes to the budget and deleted more than $3.5 million worth of spending with which they didn't agree.

In the end, an estimated 40 to 60 jobs will still be lost, but the young offenders facility will remain open.

The compromises show that the N.W.T. system of consensus government works, Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA Robert McLeod said.

"A good lesson for cabinet in the future is that it's much easier when you work with the people," he said. "Give us a product we can all agree to, and then we won't have as much trouble in the future."

Still, the often bitter discussion took a toll, with MLAs complaining they hadn't been fully consulted.

"What I believe is that the government took on too much too soon," said Dave Ramsay, MLA for Kam Lake.

The passing of the new budget doesn't mean there won't be any more cuts, Roland warned. "We've slowed it down a bit but, we're going to be challenged going ahead with that growth rate of government." 

Now that budget discussions are behind him, the premier plans to shuffle the cabinet and appoint a new finance minister.