Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on the issue of seniors' fuel subsidies. Mr. Speaker, it has been some time since there has been heated debate in this Assembly about the issue of seniors' fuel subsidy. I would like to bring it back to this forum in a different area. Once the Minister had reinstated the seniors' fuel subsidy, I believe they did it around the food index as to which communities would be categorized in the different zones. The community of Inuvik was put into zone one. That concerns me, Mr. Speaker, for the simple reason that Inuvik is much farther north than any other communities in zone one. The cost of living is higher than the other communities in zone one. For example, this is, according to the 1991 census, the family weekly food costs in Inuvik were $199.00, Hay River $155.00, Yellowknife $163.00. By those numbers alone, I guess my
question later on will be what entails the food costs? If you are a senior in the Northwest Territories and you own your own home, that means you have to pay for your own power, your own water and your own fuel. So there is a lot of issues here that are not calculated into the costs. As I have said in this House before, the costs in the community I represent have gone up extremely high in the last year especially. So I would like to know and I will be asking the Minister responsible on the reasoning for Inuvik being in zone one where there are many communities that have a lower cost of living, have shorter winter seasons and I believe a lower total overall cost of living. So at the proper time I will be asking questions to the appropriate Minister. Thank you.