Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me say that our government is looking very seriously at the issue of energy and the cost of providing energy. I can say, Mr. Speaker, that we provide a lot of subsidies right now to people who are facing hardship. First of all, we spend over $8 million a year subsidizing the cost of power back to the Yellowknife rate, for communities outside of Yellowknife who are not on the hydro grid. We also spend about $31 million a year, I think it is, on housing subsidies and a big chunk of that is energy. I don't know how much offhand, but a big chunk of that is energy.

Also, through Income Support, we have a hardship allowance, I believe, that people can apply for if they are suffering undue hardship because of the price of fuel. We also have the Seniors' Fuel Subsidy Program. So there are a number of ways that we're already subsidizing the cost of energy, but are we considering a cross-the-board subsidy for the cost of energy? Not now, because it seems that the prices we're paying now for energy are going to stabilize at around where they are now, somewhere around the $50 a barrel for crude oil. That will set the prices.

The prices are going to be high, but what's the answer, Mr. Speaker? The answer is not for us to subsidize this forever, it would be too expensive. The answer is for us to find ways of being more efficient in the use of energy and that's where our focus is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.