{"id":221342,"date":"2025-10-18T03:55:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T03:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/221342\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T03:55:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T03:55:24","slug":"estimated-gnwt-surplus-drops-by-154m-territory-revising-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/221342\/","title":{"rendered":"Estimated GNWT surplus drops by $154M, territory \u2018revising approach\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NWT\u2019s finance minister says the territory\u2019s projected annual surplus has been slashed amid global geopolitical and economic uncertainty alongside extra costs related to things like wildfires.<\/p>\n

The territorial government\u2019s latest budget<\/a> forecast an operating surplus of $170 million. That surplus isn\u2019t simply stashed away \u2013 most of it is used to build infrastructure, so a large surplus is seen as an important source of cash for new buildings, roads and so on.<\/p>\n

On Friday, finance minister Caroline Wawzonek said the latest estimate for that surplus is down by $154 million to just $16 million.<\/p>\n

She attributed that to extra spending on the likes of:<\/p>\n

fighting wildfires and disaster recovery;<\/p>\n

cash for schools to replace lost Jordan\u2019s Principle funding and account for extra costs from a new teachers\u2019 collective agreement;<\/p>\n

more housing, including transitional housing and shelter costs;<\/p>\n

fish plant operations in Hay River; and<\/p>\n

\u201cfurther subsidies to shield ratepayers from electricity price spikes stemming from low water levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NWT\u2019s total debt is now expected to reach $1.862 billion, up $90 million compared to earlier projections.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn response to the level of ongoing uncertainty, we are modifying our fiscal strategy,\u201d Wawzonek told the legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe previous fiscal strategy aspired to increase operating budgets through a combination of new revenue generation and expenditure management to decrease short-term debt and increase fiscal capacity so that the GNWT could continue to respond to expenditure shocks. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, significant economic disruptions were upon us even sooner than anticipated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wawzonek said the GNWT is now switching to an approach of \u201cinvesting in the stability and resilience of the territory.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u201cWhile these goals will increase debt, we are careful to ensure debt remains affordable and that these investments provide long-term economic benefits,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with a shifting of our formal fiscal strategy, fiscal responsibility and sustainability remain key pillars for the GNWT.\u201d<\/p>\n

What this shift will mean for future spending, and where that spending might come, were not immediately made clear.<\/p>\n

Wawzonek said the federal government\u2019s focus on nation-building and Arctic security should prove a major benefit to the NWT as diamond mines wind down their operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have long said that I remain optimistic for the Northwest Territories\u2019 potential future and that remains true now, in particular with changes coming on the national landscape,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government is looking north and seems to be sincerely hearing the calls from leaders across the Territories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We stand unprepared\u2019<\/p>\n

Speaking moments later, Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart called on ministers to \u201cact now\u201d regarding the decline of mining.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a new red alert, a red alert over our mining industry,\u201d he said, calling back to a message issued by former premier Bob McLeod in 2017<\/a> over the federally issued moratorium on Arctic oil and gas development.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe North\u2019s economy was sent into shockwaves when the Ekati mine stopped open-pit mining<\/a> earlier this summer. Hundreds of jobs were lost. The economy is at risk of losing its most significant private-sector contributors through Ekati and all the mines,\u201d Testart said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMining contributes 24 percent of the NWT\u2019s GDP and if you add in the spin-offs to the larger economy, it exceeds 40 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis should not be a surprise that the mines were eventually going to close. All mines do. But we stand completely seemingly unprepared for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denny Rodgers, the Inuvik Boot Lake MLA, pointed to the Mackenzie Valley Highway and natural gas development as longer-term solutions.<\/p>\n

The Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, which would connect the North Slave to Nunavut\u2019s Arctic coast, has made a tier-two list of projects<\/a> the federal government says it is interested in developing.<\/p>\n

Rodgers said the Mackenzie Valley Highway, which the GNWT has spent decades pitching to Ottawa and continues to push, needs to remain \u201cour number-one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good for the entire Territories, not only for defence and for sovereignty, but as an energy corridor as well,\u201d said Rodgers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about mines closing down. We\u2019re sitting on 19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Beaufort Delta. We\u2019ve seen the Indigenous government in that region, the Inuvialuit, starting their own development<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNot only would that provide energy security within our own Territories, but also the revenue and royalties that come with that to make us more of a \u2018have\u2019 territory, and we\u2019re not sat here during budgets fighting over the small amount of revenue that we do have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Return of \u2018M\u00e9tis Churchill\u2019<\/p>\n

Richard Edjericon, the Tu Nedh\u00e9-Wiilideh MLA, said the unity necessary to fully benefit from federal investment \u201cremains overshadowed by the lack of resolution on the Akaitcho land claim and self-government agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe absence of this final agreement is not only denying my constituents the recognition and rights they deserve, but also holding back the economic progress of our entire territory,\u201d Edjericon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat my people feel is holding this process back is a lack of urgency and vision from the government to finalize this crucial process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PremierPremier Bob McLeod stands in the main chamber of the NWT\u2019s legislature. Pat Kane\/Pat Kane Photo<\/p>\n

Robert Hawkins, the Yellowknife Centre MLA, called for the return of ex-premier McLeod in some form, dubbing him \u201cthe M\u00e9tis Churchill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could bring back people like Bob McLeod,\u201d said Hawkins, \u201cwho can talk about what would change the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawkins said he often thought McLeod was \u201coff the page\u201d while McLeod was premier. (Hawkins was an MLA during the first of McLeod\u2019s two terms leading the territory.) <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m prepared to eat my hat today,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

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\u201cTen years ago, he said [preserving the mining industry] was important and some of us gave him a hard time, but it\u2019s turning out it was true. He turned a page way ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to Hawkins\u2019 call for an independent committee on the future of mining \u2013 one that he said might include McLeod \u2013 industry minister Caitlin Cleveland said she had \u201clong been a fan\u201d of the former premier.<\/p>\n

Even so, Cleveland said, cabinet was working together (minus Bob) to tackle the present-day issue and meetings with industry were happening on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

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