Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 3, Member's statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today will be on the high cost of living that is plaguing many of the residents here in the Northwest Territories, and the government's inaction towards this high cost of living.

For the past two years, I have been mentioning ways in which the government could ease the pain for our residents and put more money back in their wallet. Mr. Speaker, the government just does not seem to be paying attention to the fact that some people cannot afford to buy groceries for their kids because they are paying $1.00 per litre for home heating fuel and $1.20 a litre for gas. This, Mr. Speaker, is in Yellowknife. Outside of Yellowknife, in the small communities, it is even more of a burden. The term "working poor" has never been more of a reality than it is today. There are obviously worldwide implications like hurricanes, geopolitical events and business moves that can impact the prices we pay for gas, home heating fuel and energy. Most of this, Mr. Speaker, cannot be helped.

As a government representing the 43,000 people who live here, we have to identify creative ways to put more money in people's pockets so that they can have the resources to battle these ever-increasing costs. A number of ways that we can accomplish this is not only giving our residents more money to pay their bills, but also to track and retain people to live here. Firstly, I do not understand why the federal government, who knows full well the dispute we have with them on resource revenue sharing, do not agree to put this money aside and look at establishing a resource revenue trust fund. This would ultimately benefit all residents for years to come. The State of Alaska has a fund that pays out dividends yearly to all residents of between $900 and $2,100 per resident. The province of Alberta has a heritage trust fund that has been very successful in earning income for residents of the province. Last year alone, that fund had investment income of $934 million, which is almost our entire operating budget, Mr. Speaker.

From a tax perspective, I have maintained that we should be lobbying the federal government to exempt the territory from paying the GST.

We should also look at tax credits for interest paid on mortgages. This would provide immediate help to many residents. The hardest part of it is we have the oil, gas and natural resources here, and we have to have some type of direct benefit from our own resources. If the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline goes ahead, it will join the Norman Wells line leaving the territory. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We wave goodbye to this natural resource at the wellhead, and then we pay outrageous prices to bring it back. Why can't a small refinery be built in Norman Wells, or Inuvik, to supply this territory the fuel that it needs? My opinion certainly mirrors that of public opinion; that is that this government has not done nearly enough to address the high cost of living here. It is high time that it had a serious look at options to try to finally give some relief to our residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak in honour of Small Business Week, and start by saying that this government would not know the meaning of the theme "You have the Power Behind the Canadian Economy - Let's Share the Energy" if it were written on their foreheads.

Mr. Speaker, last week, I met with the representatives from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. I learned, again, the challenges and opportunities our small businesses face in the North. I learned that they are very concerned about the ever-increasing input costs, like the high insurance premiums, cost of energy, fuel, taxes, from all three levels of government, and WCB premiums and, on top of all that, mountains of paperwork and red tape from this government, and chronic shortage of trained labour.

In spite of that, Mr. Speaker, they continue to provide our economy with good jobs, even if they keep losing them to bigger employers like the government and large industries. They give generously to numerous organizations and causes in communities they operate in. They go through endless ups and downs, but they persevere. They stick around. They are investing money and time and their sweat, because they believe in what they do because they have faith in our economy.

It is just too bad, Mr. Speaker, that this government does not have half as much of faith and confidence in them. For years, this government has been pointing its finger everywhere outward as to why we don't have economic development opportunities going on in so many of regional centres and small communities. They say it is because we don't have EDA funding. We don't have resource revenue sharing...

Excuse me, Ms. Lee. The interpreters cannot keep up with the translation. Can you please slow down a bit in your Member's statement? Thank you, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am sorry. I will slow down. Where was I? They go through endless ups and downs, but they persevere. They stick around. They are investing money and time and their sweat, because they believe in what they do. It is just too bad, Mr. Speaker, that this government does not have half as much faith and confidence in them. For years, this government has been pointing its finger everywhere outward as to why we don't have economic development opportunities going on in so many of our regional centres and small communities. They say it's because we don't have EDA funding, we don't have resource revenue sharing money, no royalty dividends, no money, no industries. The list of blame and whining goes on and on. So what does this government do when it gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to some real money and real investment opportunities that these die-hard northern businesses can really sink their teeth into, Mr. Speaker, like the $200 million plus housing and infrastructure project that could come from the pipeline development?

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, what do they do? They become hypnotized by the charming, magic spell of one former Finance Minister of this government, who now wears the hat of a consultant for Echo-Novel. This Cabinet has become completely blinded and deaf to the pleas of MLAs or anyone with contrary opinions. I guess we just don't have that magic spell, Mr. Speaker. They don't talk to northern people. They ignore proposals submitted by builders in Yellowknife and Hay River. They so shamelessly announce to the world we have no capacity here, we can't build housing here. They cannot fly fast enough to take their money to give to Calgary, Alberta, and to the already bloated Ralph Klein coffers, Mr. Speaker. Shame on this government. Mr. Speaker. These businesses have earned their right to insist that this government's long-term economic plan includes them, and I will do everything I can to make sure that the northern businesses have the first right of refusal to every penny of that $220 million plus. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement is on the big picture of energy in relation to some of my honourable colleagues' Member's statements. We are like the Eveready bunny rabbit on the TV commercial that keeps going and going and going, with the emphasis on Eveready. Mr. Speaker, we, in the North, have a tremendous amount of opportunities to deal with energy resources. We're on the verge of the biggest single mega project in Canada: the long-awaited pipeline, to the various hydro potential opportunities we have in the North. This is only the tip of the iceberg as to what we, as northerners, are allowing the federal government to dictate our quality of living and lead us around.

Mr. Speaker, we don't have enough means to deal with our energy issues because, Mr. Speaker, we don't have constitutional protection or clout to tell the federal government enough is enough. We can, and do, pay our own way and make a significant contribution to Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I made reference to the Eveready bunny, earlier in my statement, that keeps going on and on and on. The question that may be asked is, is this government the Eveready bunny in that we just keep going and going and going and rely heavily on the feds to change our batteries or to wind us up and keep leading us on to what we are doing today, whining about the sad state of our government, the need to get a fair share of the resource revenue sharing, to look at our energy in the North here?

Mr. Speaker, until we have the clout, as may be in the constitutional rights in Canada, we will continue to deal with our energy issues as we are doing with our communities by creating various awareness campaign programs and taking responsibility for personal energy use and to make the tough choices. We have to decide either to pay for food or pay for fuel today. Mr. Speaker, we, as northern people, are losing a lot of energy, both in resource development payments and the ability to take a stand against the federal government. As a territory, in the early days of Confederation, we appreciated their guidance, and now that we're big enough, we have to realize that we need to say to this federal government, can we leave our sandbox now, and allow us the dignity to be rightfully participant in the nation we call Canada.

The Premier has called himself, has been referred to as Gandhi as other Members...

Mr. Yakeleya, your time for Members' statement has expired.

I see unanimous consent to continue my statement, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. The Premier has been referred to as Gandhi, by other Members. He's also called himself the Maytag repairman in the House here. Mr. Speaker, I want to give the Sahtu vision to our Premier. The Sahtu would like to call him the Eveready bunny. Go get him, Mr. Premier. Tell all the world that our energy is not for sale, and to get their hands out of the pockets of the northern people. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the wise use of energy, energy conservation and energy consumption in the Northwest Territories are all topics in today's session. I'd just like to touch on some of the not-so-wise use of energy by this government.

Mr. Speaker, the Taltson hydro system is both currently underused and underdeveloped. Since the closure of the Pine Point Mine in the late '80s, demand on the system has been steadily declining. The average of 10 megawatts being used for most of the year, with the capacity of 20 megawatts in the system, leaves us with 10 megawatts of excess power that represents a significant loss in potential revenues for the Power Corporation, which, in turn, results in higher energy costs for consumers.

Mr. Speaker, when this government had an opportunity to sell the surplus power as interruptible power to prospective consumers, and possibly utilize some to heat many of the government buildings at a very reduced rate, they did not take the initiative seriously and, subsequently, nothing materialized. Mr. Speaker, these recommendations, along with many other good suggestions on how this government could realize more energy revenues, thus resulting in lower rates for individual households overall, and the recommendations on how this government can reduce government infrastructure heating costs, were all reviewed and compiled in a detailed report paid for by this government five years ago.

Mr. Speaker, five years ago, when the prices of crude oil and other fossil fuels were at record lows, not taking action on any of these recommendations was construed as the best practice. But today, Mr. Speaker, we are in an energy crisis situation, one that requires immediate action on all fronts by this government. So, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to stress the importance of rising energy costs to northerners, and urge that this government make a wise decision and take a proactive approach to lessening some of the pressures of these rising, higher costs of living in the North for northerners, by seriously incorporating or revisiting some of the recommendations made in the report that was shelved five years ago. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to introduce, in the gallery, a professor that's visiting with us here in Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories. He's been involved in the first ever distance education program from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Dr. John Owen is joined with his wife, Pam, both from Melbourne, Australia. Also with them is Karen Hicks, programs advisor to FMBS, who's been helping with the delivery of the program and has helped with the program. I believe we have 19 GNWT staff involved in that program. Thank you.

---Applause