Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I am going to tell a story. Once upon a time, in a little town in the Northwest Territories, there was a street. And on that street lived a variety of townspeople. In the first house, lived a little elderly grandma, and she owned the home that her late husband and she had lived in. She had many happy memories from this modest home where she had raised her children, who were now all grown up. On her meager income of $13,000 per year, she had a fairly happy life, until one day the government came along and told her that she was earning too much money, and that the fuel man and wood man were not coming to her house any more unless she had the money to pay them.
She ran to her good neighbours to ask if the government had been to their door. The couple next door had indeed had a visit too, but although their house was the same size as hers, and it cost roughly the same to heat and maintain, the wood man and the fuel man were still coming to their house because, although their household income was $29,000, they were not earning too much. She ran to the neighbours next to them, who were really comfy and warm. They were getting ready to go on a trip to see their children. And, although they were retired and living on a good pension, they had extra money to buy things for their grandchildren, to eat out once in a while, and buy good food and clothing. The old lady was happy for these neighbours because they lived in a home owned by the government. They did not have to pay for their wood, fuel, power, rent, repairs, nothing, but the government had not been to their door either.
Alas, the old woman returned to her home. That night she shivered in her bed, wondering what she could do to afford her little house. She was comfortable there. Could she get a job? Could she move into a government house too? No, there were no more, and she was too old for anyone to hire her. The government houses were all taken. She would cut back on her food and clothing and get some cheap wood from the correctional centre. But when she called them up she found out that there was no more cheap wood for seniors. Although the woman tried not to worry, she began to dread the night when she would lay in her bed all alone and worry about the future. After many sleepless nights, she became sick and stopped going out of her house. One day, the ambulance came and picked her up, and she lived out all the rest of her days in the hospital. The hospital was nice and she thought that it must cost the government a lot of money. But she was lonely for her little house. She quit looking forward to visits from her family, and one day she quietly passed away. Her grandchildren and her neighbours sadly missed her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause