Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue that's highest on the agenda for every northerner, and I think for every Canadian, is what the high cost of energy is going to mean to their family, to their futures, not only this winter but in the months and years to come.
Mr. Speaker, this government has, over the years, been active in a number of areas of energy conservation, energy awareness, and, indeed, energy production. We've looked at a couple of major hydroelectricity programs that we, indeed, hope will see fruition. Indeed, we are looking at, potentially, the largest civil project ever undertaken in Canada, and that is the building of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this session, we heard statements from the Premier, and from each of the Ministers, on various initiatives that their departments are undertaking to address the high cost of energy, what this government
is doing about it, and what residents in the NWT could also do. Mr. Speaker, when committee members from this side of this House travelled the Northwest Territories in September, on a pre-budget consultation -- the first of its kind -- one of the overriding messages that we heard from constituents, from communities, was a concern not only for the high cost of energy, but the overall cost of living in the Northwest Territories, something that is being driven by many, many factors, and it's coming to the point where so much of our attention is focused on what we might say are the poor, the working poor, the disadvantaged, the unemployed or the unemployable. Now, Mr. Speaker, we're hearing from a new kind of constituency, and I would say this is going into the middle class, these are people with well-established jobs and careers, and they're looking at the drivers to the cost of living here in the Northwest Territories. In Yellowknife, and I think in every other community, they're starting to question how are they going to get through, and still have a standard of living, a quality of life that they can have confidence and security in.
So in putting together this motion, Mr. Speaker, and working with my colleagues on this, we wanted to put together something that would show that we're paying attention. In the short term, there may not be a lot of things we can do. But that should not stop us from doing anything. So in asking the government to come back to committee, in public forum, in November and January, Mr. Speaker, this is a demonstration from the Members who went out into the communities in September, to say we're listening.
We can't do all this on our own. It is going to require the skills, and the resources, and the energy from the various departments; and we roll this out into the community. We have the Arctic Energy Alliance, which is already engaged, and I'm pleased to see that, along with utilities, communities, to see where a really collaborative, whole effort can be made on energy costs and on the cost of living. That, I guess, Mr. Speaker, is what I hope we can see from the government when we come back for a public meeting, or a couple of public meetings, under the chair's direction of the Accountability and Oversight committee. This is not another round of public meetings or a tour of the communities again, Mr. Speaker. That has already been done, and we heard what's on people's minds. We're going to continue now with our own processes.
If there is anything new in here, Mr. Speaker, it's that committees want to open the doors to more of the kind of discourse and discussion that we have amongst each other and with government departments, and that's why we're saying, "Let's do this in public." So much of this discussion has already happened out in the communities and here on the floor of this Assembly over the last few days. We want to continue that in November, in January, and that's what we're seeking to get the government's assistance and cooperation in doing.
So that is why, Mr. Speaker, this motion was put forward. It's a continuance of what we already heard. We want to show that we're paying attention, and we want to show that we can do something to address energy costs, and the overall cost of living in the NWT. Thanks, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause