Capital budgets have been capped at $260 million in the GNWTSA国际影视传媒檚 interim budget.

Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek tabled the budget in the Legislative Assembly on Feb. 7.

SA国际影视传媒淚t will come as no surprise that flooding, drought, wildfire events and the global COVID-19 pandemic have all negatively impacted the governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 financial capacity,SA国际影视传媒� she said during a sitting. SA国际影视传媒淲e have capped the budget for large capital projects at $260 million to better reflect what the GNWT can deliver in a year. This single action returned the governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 medium-term outlook to a more sustainable path.SA国际影视传媒�

Wawzonek added the GNWT updated its fiscal responsibility policy to require any budgeted consolidated debt not exceed $120 million less than the limit imposed by the federal government, For the NWT that limit is $1.3 billion.

Noting the GNWT gets 80 per cent of its revenue from federal transfer payments, Wawzonek cautioned the GNWT was going to need a lot of money to be prepared for future needs, both those the government can see coming and the big surprises.

She said the government would need to adopt a strong fiscal strategy to manage the financial problems presented by last yearSA国际影视传媒檚 wildfire season, the Covid-19 pandemic, multiple years of flooding, an economy largely dependent on mining and few new mining projects coming online.

To reduce costs, Wawzonek said a SA国际影视传媒済overnment renewal initiativeSA国际影视传媒� was underway, with departments identifying redundancies and repeating of services offered.

When asked by Tu Nedh茅-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon if cuts were coming to the public service and if remote communities would feel the brunt of the cuts, Wawzonek dismissed notions the GNWT was planning any staffing cuts as rumours and emphasized she was not looking at any public sector cuts.

SA国际影视传媒淭he budget isnSA国际影视传媒檛 parsed out one community at a time,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 certainly donSA国际影视传媒檛 want any residents feeling they donSA国际影视传媒檛 get a fair shake out of the government. Cuts to programs and services has to be the last thing that we look at. WeSA国际影视传媒檝e laid ourselves a path, itSA国际影视传媒檚 our opportunity to take it, with government renewal and with the data thatSA国际影视传媒檚 been gathered by Health Sustainability. Can we actually look at spending our money better and more wisely now that we have that data available to us so we can bring ourselves to a better fiscal situation without cuts?

SA国际影视传媒淭he work that we do as a government canSA国际影视传媒檛 happen with the public service. That is, I hope, not a rumour thatSA国际影视传媒檚 out amongst the public service in that where weSA国际影视传媒檙e going to be starting, Having responsible fiscal policies does not necessarily require us to go out and get rid of those people who deliver our programs and services. It does mean looking at how we do things. How can we look internally to fund, so weSA国际影视传媒檙e not continually adding new positions when weSA国际影视传媒檙e not managing the house that weSA国际影视传媒檙e in.

SA国际影视传媒淚 certainly want to emphasize to the public servants out there that this doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 need to happen without them at the forefront telling us how we can do better.SA国际影视传媒�