Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the costs of basic needs including housing, food, transportation, power and heating in the NWT have historically been well above national averages;
AND WHEREAS recent sharp increases in the price of oil will make the current situation even worse by directly raising the prices of gasoline, diesel and home heating fuel, and also by indirectly raising food, transportation and other costs;
AND WHEREAS the heating season is much longer in the Northwest Territories than in other parts of Canada, with average daily temperatures ranging from minus 1.2 degrees Celsius in Fort Liard, to minus 4.6 degrees in Yellowknife, to minus 13.3 degrees in Sachs Harbour, compared with plus 3.9 degrees in Edmonton and plus 6.3 degrees in Ottawa;
AND WHEREAS the ability of harvesters and other renewable resource workers such as commercial fishermen to continue to work on the land and water, and the ability of northerners to continue their tradition of providing healthy food for their families from the land and water, is being jeopardized by high fuel prices;
AND WHEREAS people with low incomes who are not in public housing or on income support will be particularly hard hit by the rising cost of living;
AND WHEREAS the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight heard clearly during its 2005 pre-budget consultations that addressing poverty and the cost of living is a high priority for NWT communities and residents;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that the government present a viable comprehensive strategy to address energy costs to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight at a public meeting in November 2005;
AND FURTHER, that this strategy present both long and short-term mitigating measures, possibly including: subsidies for low-income households, harvesters and other renewable resource workers, and subsistence hunters; energy conservation measures; efficiency initiatives such as promoting the use of wood-generated heat; lobby efforts for federal assistance for NWT residents, such as reduction or elimination of the federal goods and services tax; and opportunities to work with our sister territories;
AND FURTHER, that the government present a viable comprehensive strategy to address the overall cost of living in the NWT to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight at a public meeting in January 2006;
AND FURTHER, that this strategy includes both long and short-term mitigating measures to address the high costs of essentials such as food, utilities, housing and transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.