Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be supporting the motion. The reason for my supporting the motion is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of work done that gives comfort to the MLAs from the smaller communities that there are any benefits going from this change to the people in the smaller community ridings. However, there’s definitely a possibility that few of our seniors who were lucky enough to have held good jobs in their lifetime in these small communities will be adversely affected.
In addition, any loss of residents across the NWT would have an adverse effect on all residents of the NWT by dropping transfer payments and removing seniors with good incomes who make their purchases in the NWT. These seniors buy and operate their vehicles in the Northwest Territories. These seniors buy their food here, buy their clothing here, do their shopping here. They volunteer here; seniors that are homeowners and operate their homes through local purchases, never mind the transfer payments. Just the fact that their incomes will no longer be circulating in the economy of the Northwest Territories has an adverse effect on the people across the country.
Today in tough economic times the government should do all it can to try to retain all the people who have made a decision to retire up here and make homes here and made a decision to spend their money here. This program would have an adverse effect upon that. And what has an adverse effect on the NWT in general, usually the impact is
felt greatest in the smaller communities where the economy is poor already.
Because my feeling is that this change to the supplementary health benefits has a very negative impact on the communities, whether it’s individual or not, I feel the negative impacts are there. Therefore, I will be supporting this motion.