Mr. Speaker, today I have questions for the Premier or the Minister responsible for reducing the cost of living — the cost of living for communities in the Tu Nedhe in the area of food, fuel, power and gasoline. The cost of living is extremely high in those areas. An example is that in order to reduce the costs themselves, the people would supplement their food by hunting. However, the cost of gasoline is so high that people are unable to do that.

I’d like to ask the Minister if there is a plan to address the problem on a short-term basis. A lot of the costs of living are laid out. The reduction to costs of living is laid out. Awareness of energy, hydro strategy and so forth are all items that are in this year’s budget but have long-term implications. I want to know if there are any plans that have short-term impacts on the cost of living in the smaller communities.