Regular NWT MLAs and cabinet members stood together in passing the 20th Assembly’s first operating budget.
Cabinet unveiled its proposed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year last month. It pledged $2.22 billion in spending, $2.6 billion in revenue and $48.4 million in planned cuts.
MLAs have since spent long nights combing through and debating that financial plan.
Finance minister Caroline Wawzonek announced on Wednesday she was revising the budget by adding $13 million in spending, following discussions with regular MLAs. That included money to reverse the planned closure of the men’s unit at Fort Smith’s jail and reinstate some midwifery funding.
MLAs Denny Rodgers, Danny McNeely, Jane Weyallon Armstrong, Sheryl Yakeleya and Julian Morse spoke in the legislature about the importance of compromise and the collaborative process between regular MLAs and cabinet ahead of Thursday’s vote. They said they will continue to advocate for the needs of their constituents.
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“I can say that we were able to push both the budget and the government’s business plans further towards the priorities I want us to be focused on,” said Morse, the MLA for Frame Lake.
“I certainly did not get everything I was hoping for but I’m not sure anyone on either side of the House can say that. That tends to be the nature of negotiations.”
While all 16 MLAs present voted in favour of the updated budget on Thursday, several expressed disappointment that not all of their requests made the cut.
“It’s a sign of a good negotiation when both sides come away somewhat unsatisfied,” said Kate Reid, the MLA for Great Slave.
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Reid said she would continue to push for the office of the children’s lawyer, midwifery, extended health benefits and providing training to public servants whose jobs are no longer needed to support their transition. She called for more “heartful and vulnerable” discussions.
Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan said items she felt were left outstanding following negotiations included a healthcare workforce plan and reversing funding reductions to the Arctic Energy Alliance.
“We have much work ahead of us,” she said. “I hope we can all keep our focus on the bigger picture and the collaboration that we need to make our consensus government work in order to achieve our common priorities.”
Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart said he believes the assembly “can do far better” than the budget and the process to produce it. He described the $13 million added to the $2.2-billion budget as “at best a rounding error worth less than a percentage point” that required “much hand-wringing in negotiation.”
“We have all been ground down by this process, long days and nights eroding any sense of priority other than ‘get us out of here,'” he said.
“We should be fighting for our constituents, not against our exhaustion.”
Testart said negotiations had not rolled back controversial changes to extended health benefits nor resulted in a promise to phase out agency nurses by 2027, as he had hoped. But he said he supported the budget proposals related to policing, film, fisheries, mining, healthcare and infrastructure.
Testart said he would “continue to hold accountable the government to the commitments they’ve made,” particularly to midwives, healthcare professionals, corrections officers and the Town of Fort Smith.
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The territorial government decided to push back the budget process by several months after the election was delayed due to wildfires and evacuations. The finance minister released an interim budget in February.
MLAs will resume sitting in the Legislative Assembly on October 17.
Correction: June 13, 2024 – 18:00 MT. A previous version of this story stated the budget initially proposed $48.4 billion in cuts. In fact, it proposed $48.4 million in cuts.
