Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak about the effects of the rising energy costs on the lifestyle that this territory and this country was built on. That lifestyle I am speaking about, Mr. Speaker, is our ability to continue to live a traditional lifestyle. We still have many people in the NWT who continue to try to live off the land. Even with the cost of everything going up, residents will still continue to go out and live on the land, because it is just the way of life in the NWT. Fur harvesters are still trying to earn some kind of living by trapping. People go to whaling camps, go fishing, and continue a tradition that has been carried on for generations. Not much is going to prevent these harvesters from trying to earn a living off the land, Mr. Speaker.
When all the harvesters return to their communities, now they have to contend with the high cost of fuel to heat their homes, and the high cost of power and food. There was a time when it was cheaper to go out on the land to harvest for food. Now it costs less to go to the grocery store and buy pork chops. The former RWED had some good programs to help the trappers with the fur harvest industry. But more needs to be done with all the harvesters who are battling the high cost of living. All they want, Mr. Speaker, is a chance to be a little more independent. They are not looking for handouts; they just want a good break.
We live in a territory that is absolutely rich with resources, yet people in Inuvik probably paid more for natural gas than southern Canada would have to when the gas is shipped there. Now it is time for this government to share some of these rich resources with the people of the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause