Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak in support of this motion. Mr. Speaker, I realize that as the Member for Nahendeh mentioned earlier that the Cabinet Ministers each made a statement on the energy issue last week, or the first week that the session opened. It was a mini-energy theme day for the Cabinet, but I don't believe that Members on this side, or the public out there, feel that was sufficient. The government focused on conservation, but there have not really been very specific ways in addressing the people's concerns about rising fuel costs and cost of living.

Mr. Speaker, the concern about the cost of living isn't just a community issue. I was handed a fuel bill by two homeowners in Yellowknife showing me that since their last bill, the cost of their fuel is at least $200 or $300 more. I mean, this is something that we're going to be dealing with in upcoming months, unless, of course, the world prices somehow drop in a drastic way and that drop translates into any reduction in cost of fuel from where it is now.

Mr. Speaker, I don't understand the concerns about the fact that this work is being carried out by the Accountability and Oversight committee. That is the committee that just undertook pre-budget public hearings, and it was received with open arms in every community we visited. In that exercise, nobody ever suggested that we should go to any more than the nine that were decided. We were only able to go to nine. But we can only do what we can. Perhaps in this hearing process for this bill we will choose communities that are not part of that nine. Mr. Speaker, to suggest that because you're not going everywhere that you're not being accountable, doesn't make sense at all. Mr. Speaker, that is exactly like what Mr. Dent said. If I have to help that day care, I have to help every day care. I was thinking that was like a heart surgeon saying I can't give you heart surgery on this because I'd have to give it to everybody. Well I'm telling you, you don't have to do it that way. I'm telling you if you could go to Yellowknife, you don't even have to do Yellowknife. You could just go to north, south, I mean, we do it constantly. No one would ever suggest that the Minister can't move on a file unless he goes everywhere. I fail to see the logic of the Premier saying we're not being accountable by not going to all of them.

To suggest that this motion is hypocritical in some way because we're going to go to the public and talking about this number one issue, I know there are lots of issues that are being discussed in this House, but outside the energy costs and rising cost of living as the number one issue, and we have not demonstrated in this House, during this session, that we have really done anything to present to the public what the government is about to do.

The timing of this, Mr. Speaker, was a big issue of debate in drafting this motion. There is urgency to this debate. We can't wait until the House sits in February...

...to figure out what is going on, Mr. Speaker. We have three months before that. I just fail to see any of the objections from the Premier, and that side of the Chamber, as to the objectives of this motion.

Mr. Speaker, may I just conclude by saying that this is not really asking for a lot. We're not asking the government to spend a whole lot of money. We're not asking them to give a rebate. I don't understand. It's the least we can do to try to address the concerns about the high cost of fuel and the high cost of living. The least that side could do is say good on you, AOC, go out and get it, and when you come back, we'll follow up on every one of the recommendations that you suggest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. To the motion. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak to the intent behind this motion. Mr. Speaker, the cost of living is really high and we're no strangers in the Northwest Territories to knowing this, especially in the small communities. Mr. Speaker, because of a bunch of leaks in the Northwest Territories in terms of the oil and gas and the resource revenue sharing and all the other stuff that goes with it, now at the peak of the oil and gas prices, the Northwest Territories is really paying to live up in the North here. There's a high, high cost every day in the communities. We hear it, and we notice it, and we'll see it, as Ms. Lee has indicated, in the fuel bills we're going to see this winter.

Mr. Speaker, the people in the North are even thinking it might be a colder season, a longer season, and now, because lifestyles are changing, our people are becoming more and more dependent on heat and fuel. Not like the old days. Because of this lifestyle, and because people are fighting very hard to maintain that lifestyle, even that is coming into jeopardy for the trapping, and the hunting, and the use of the traditional foods. That's something that needs to be looked at.

Mr. Speaker, then we look at the poor people. The ones who are on low income and may not be in public housing or on income support.

Mr. Speaker, the people have spoken. We've done the pre-budget consultations. We heard them. I know this motion is about a viable, comprehensive strategy on energy costs, and what we're asking the government to do is on short notice, by November -- next month -- to let the people know what we're doing about a comprehensive strategy about the high costs of energy. We are asking for this in a public forum.

I do agree with one of the speakers, I think it was the Premier, talking about it only being in Yellowknife. I don't think that's the case. I think it's going to be elsewhere. I think we have our agenda in AOC about how we see this government performing and how we see ourselves doing our jobs. Maybe after some discussion, we can bring it into the public forum. I think what the people want to hear is what type of comprehensive studies or strategies are we doing to help them with the high cost of living in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I think the real issue here is the federal government keeping us in the poor house. We talk about how much money this territory leaves to Ottawa, and how much the federal government keeps and dictates to us. We're just like little kids to them. It's time we, as a government, in terms of an energy strategy, ask the federal government why we are paying so much money. Why is it so high?

I think that's some of the discussion that may happen on this motion here. There are many possibilities. I think it's a good thing. There are a lot of good things to come out. This government has done some good things in terms of energy cost savings. It's not all bad news. There are good things we can talk about, also. But we have to stay together on this.

I'd like to say I'm in support of this motion here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am going to stand up today in support of the motion. As some of my colleagues said before, we did travel to the communities. We did hear them complain about the energy costs and the overall cost of living. As an example, Mr. Speaker, last week, when I was back at home, we were talking about gasoline prices. A five-gallon jerry-can back in Tuktoyaktuk came out to $33. We are seeing the increase in these prices going up. They are coming.

Mr. Speaker, take a look at Paulatuk. They are concerned that even though the NWT Power Corporation is subsidizing up to 700 kilowatts a month, they use well over that. Never mind the food that they have to buy from the local Co-op there.

I'm going to be very brief, Mr. Speaker. I will support this motion. I think we have to do something to help these people that are in need of assistance. It's going to affect the homeowners. Even myself, Mr. Speaker. I do own my own place in Tuktoyaktuk and I have already seen the costs and prices that I am paying. I think in that regard, Mr. Speaker, being a homeowner, I learned how to cut back on some of the energy costs as part of my duty, but, at the same time, we have other people who just can't afford it.

So, Mr. Speaker, I'm just standing today to say that I will support this motion. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. To the motion. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, am going to support the motion that's before us today. I would have preferred a joint committee between Regular Members on this side of the House and Cabinet to hash through some of these energy costs and the cost of living issues that are facing everybody in this House. I mean, it's going to be a huge issue. We've been lucky that the weather hasn't turned cold, and we've been lucky that people haven't got their first bill after having filled their oil tanks at home, because it's going to be a real shocker when they have to pay $1 a litre -- that's in Yellowknife; it's even worse outside of here -- when they have to fill those fuel tanks and they can't afford to buy groceries, Mr. Speaker.

That is the reality we are faced with here, and I know that it's important for us here, as legislators and as Members of this House, to show the public and our constituents that we care about what is going on. We care about the high cost of energy. We care about the cost of living increases. Every time somebody turns around here, Mr. Speaker, the cost of living is going up, the payroll tax, now we have the beverage containers, we have the gasoline, we have home heating fuel, and the list goes on and on. People's disposable income is going down with it, Mr. Speaker. I think it's very important that the government look at ways to put more money into people's pockets. To me, that's the most important thing.

As I've said before in this House, I've been here two years and the government hasn't really come up with any kind of idea, or championed any kind of cause, that would actually give people a break. I'm talking about the everyday people in our communities, the people that are working. I called them the working poor the other day, and that's exactly what they are, Mr. Speaker. They go to work from 9:00 to 5:00, they come home. Once they pay the bills, Mr. Speaker, they have nothing left. They have maybe $30 or $40 left a month in disposable income. It's just not right and I think we should try to look at every opportunity to try to put more money into people's pockets so that they can enjoy the lives that they have. You only go around once, Mr. Speaker, and we should afford people the little luxuries in life. I'd like to see what might become of this.

Members on this side of the House have talked numerous times about resource revenue sharing and the fact that we don't have it, and our fiscal situation remains very convoluted, very uneasy. We got an announcement yesterday that we're going to be $30 million short this year. That's going to impact us. We're going to be running on a deficit. Times are up and down all over the place, Mr. Speaker. We need some surety, and the government has to get that from Ottawa at some point in time. The government before this one and the government before that one, same issues, Mr. Speaker, and we have to try and get some closure on some of these big issues. I think in order for us to go anywhere, that is the bottom line.

The issue of not charging the GST on energy costs and fuel is a serious message that has to be sent to Ottawa. If you look at north of 60 just with the heating costs for people, the average temperature here is much less than it is in southern Canada. It's winter seven to nine months of the year, depending on which riding we represent. It's things like that that make us different. We're not a province yet and we need to be treated a bit differently. I don't think we get the respect and the dignity that we deserve in Ottawa. I challenge anybody to tell me differently, Mr. Speaker.

I've also talked about a trust fund that could roll out from resource revenue sharing, and we recently got $40 million, but already we're going to run out and give it out to the communities. Not that that's such a bad thing, but why we wouldn't start putting some of this money away for the future I'm not quite sure. It's things like that that are going to pay dividends down the road for the residents here in the Northwest Territories, and it should be seriously looked at.

Also, tax credits for interest paid on mortgages. Housing prices are up across the country. People are paying exorbitant amounts of money in interest on their mortgage, Mr. Speaker. Why we can't look at giving people a break on that interest portion that they pay on their mortgages? I don't understand why we don't pursue that.

It's issues for all of us. We certainly have to stand together here and make sure that we have a united front when it comes to the cost of living and energy costs. With any luck, energy costs will start to come down a little bit and ease the pain and burden on the households this winter because if they don't, we're all going to be feeling the impact of that because we're going to have constituents that, quite honestly, cannot afford to live here. We're going to lose people to southern Canada where it's not winter seven to nine months of the year and they can afford to live a little bit more. That's my big fear, Mr. Speaker, is that we are going to lose people. It would be a real shame if we do lose people and we haven't done all that we can to try to keep them here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. To the motion. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, am going to support the motion, but I do want to make some comments on it, and I do think it is a bit of a stray from how we normally do business in the fact that we say that Accountability and Oversight is going to hold a public meeting to which we are going to summon the government to present a strategy on the cost of energy. Then, a couple months later, we are going to summon them again to a public meeting of AOC to present their strategy that is going to solve the issues of the high cost of living in the North overall. It's just not the way we normally do business.

This is a consensus government. I was far more amenable to the idea of striking a joint committee between Cabinet and Regular Members and kind of brainstorming together. We didn't want to spend the money by taking it out as a travelling road show and spend $1 million, because I think that's kind of offensive to people too. So I would have been more amenable; I don't know what kind of optics we're trying to create here. If you want to talk about a public meeting of AOC with all the Cabinet Ministers there, well that's right here. It is right here. That's it. Maybe we should convene a special sitting of the Legislature and tell our constituents in the North that we're all going to write a letter to the Commissioner and ask to

convene a special sitting of the Legislature to deal with the cost of energy and the cost of living in the Northwest Territories.

In January when it's going to be very, very pressing. I don't know. Because as far as a strategy to me, I've already sat in AOC and looked at the...We probably can't share it publicly, but we've already sat in AOC and read the government strategy on mitigating the costs of living and energy. I've already seen that document. I think most of us have.

Anyway, I don't know. It's different. It is going away from the way we normally do business. Of course, I support the concept, and I am going to support the motion, but I'd just like to say that there are some other ways out there. Perhaps having this discussion and debating this in a way...and I do agree with the Premier on the fact that having a meeting here in Yellowknife, an AOC meeting, having them come to us, we're all the same players, and only having the NGOs and those people who are very well equipped to make the slick presentations to us just here in Yellowknife and nowhere else, it loses that kind of regional territorial flavour of the people who have their real lives and sometimes seemingly small issues, but they're real to them.

After saying all that, I am going to support the motion, but I think that we need to work together. That's what I'll say. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the motion. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be supporting the motion. It's important to show to the public and prove to the public that we're doing something. It's nice that we have great briefings of an amazing amount of information behind closed doors and in those secret meetings, but it's time that we show that we're actually getting out there and doing something with that information and getting feedback from the people who need it.

We know the cost of living makes it a terrible burden to live here in the Northwest Territories, and it needs to be a priority by this government. I'm not sure how we can do it in the sense of we don't have every answer, but trying something is certainly the right way to get those answers. By proving that we're doing something, is the right way. By sitting back and letting this sort of evolve on their own, is not the right way to do it, so I'll be supporting this motion.

Another reason that it compels me to vote in favour of it is because we have to make sure we're doing something for the little guy. The little guy out there tends to just keep paying more and more taxes and getting ignored by the process. If you're a big guy and you come here and say I'll create five jobs if you subsidize me multimillions of dollars for diamond cutting plants or whatnot, we seem to find money for those things. This is something that the little guy will feel that we're going to work on to improve his life.

That's why I ran for politics, is to give people the opportunity to improve their lives and to get out there. That's why we should all be here. But it seems like government continually wants to make sure that they are there for the big guys. To me, this motion clearly says that we give a darn about the working poor. Those people are going to have to heat their houses. People are going to suffer trying to find the extra money to get through this difficult winter. This clearly says, in my mind, you have to support this because if you don't, well, again, maybe the big guy is important to them, not the little guy that elected us. So I cherish that very close to the heart. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion. The Chair will allow the mover of the motion, Mr. Braden, some closing remarks. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much, colleagues. This was a very good discussion. I think, for people who are watching, maybe to help illustrate some of the way we do business, not just across the floor here, but amongst ourselves. By no means are we always on the same page. I think, though, that all of us are probably about 80 or 90 percent on the same page here.

I would just like to address a couple of things that have come up. When Mr. Handley suggested that we are somehow excluding, or, perhaps, not making fully available our proceedings to all the people and all of the communities, we can't do everything perfectly with the fullest exposure and the fullest opportunity. In fact, Mr. Speaker, most of the business of this Assembly is done in committee, behind closed doors.

When Mrs. Groenewegen said that this is a change in the way we do business, you know, you are darned right it is. It is time we change the way we do business. We have already done it when we went out on the pre-budget consultations. That was a change in the way we do business. It sure seemed to be well accepted by the people in the communities. This is a change in the way we do business.

If you look at just about every other legislature, in the Parliament of Canada, their standing committees are very open. Ours are not. I want to change the way we do business. This is a common agenda that we can share with everybody -- everybody -- NGOs, people in the communities, all over the place. Let's do something instead of doing nothing because it can't be done so perfectly, or fully, or in the best possible way.

Committee Room A is a pretty good room. There have been television cameras in there before, when the media has expressed enough interest in it. We are serving lots of notice about something. The media will be there. It is their job to communicate things. We hope we are going to be topical, and interesting enough, to attract them there.

We, as MLAs, have a job and a duty to do, to communicate what goes on here to our constituents. The fact that we are not going on another major road show to duplicate what Members heard just a couple of months ago, I don't think there is a deficiency. Should we have a special sitting of the Assembly at $30,000 a day to run and pay for all the extra things that go on when we have

an Assembly? Is $30,000 a day responsible? No. We are already meeting in committee. Members are already going to be here for other duties already assigned to us. Let's keep going with this agenda. My expectation is not that we will have some wonderful strategy rolled out to address energy and the cost of living. It is an ongoing agenda, but let's keep working the file. Let's open the doors, and let the people see and hear what we are doing on a more frequent basis, and on one that will help them see how we do our business, and make this place more relevant and more accessible to them.

I welcome the recorded vote that has been called for, and my chance to be seen to be supportive of this kind of change in the way we do business. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. A recorded vote has been requested. All those in support of the motion, please stand.

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.

The results of the motion: 11 for, none opposed, seven abstentions. The motion is carried.

---Carried

---Applause

Item 16, motions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to deal with the motion he gave notice of earlier today. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Villeneuve, you may deal with the motion you gave notice of earlier today.