Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are back. It is October 1, 2008. We are on the threshold of another northern winter. Something largely on the minds of almost every Northerner is the almost certain increase in the cost of living. News reports tell us that the cost of food is going up. Demand on a global basis exceeds supply, and prices will reflect these realities.

The price of crude oil is volatile, and we are vulnerable to economic issues far beyond the reach of our control. Home heating fuel and gasoline have seen record prices in recent weeks. In the North we are particularly affected, given our need to travel to regional centres for services and our need to import almost all of our food and supplies. There is a general rate application before the PUB for a 19 per cent increase in power rates, which will affect all of our communities and residents.

Although we speak longingly of recruiting and maintaining a strong northern workforce in the private and public sectors, the fact is that people, including Northerners, have lots of options as to where they live and work. We saw a net decrease in the population of the NWT according to our last census. This spells a decrease in transfer of funds from Canada as it relates to population. The U.S. and Canadian markets, and all markets for that matter, have been under extreme pressure related to the credit crises, and people are concerned about their investments that are intended to sustain them in their retirement.

With all of this as a backdrop and the many things that could be done to show leadership and give Northerners confidence in their government — in politics they say timing is everything — Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask: what are we doing? Why are we expending time and energy looking for new ways to increase taxes?

I have a question for our Premier and Finance Minister. Is it possible, by considering increased or new taxes, to be any further out of touch with the realities of the Northerners we claim to represent by embarking on this dialogue at this time?

Not to end this on a completely negative note, Mr. Speaker, we have oil, gas, minerals, cultivatable land, wildlife, fresh water, fish, forests. We need to look for every way possible to help our people help themselves. We are arguably the richest place left on this planet Earth, yet we are talking about how much we spend on direct subsidies to people. We need to help people to help themselves.

Mr. Speaker, we talk about a strong and independent North, and we need, as a government, to show some leadership in some small measures to help attain that.