Thank you. I have committed to the Member that I will have a look at this and see what options are available to us. Again, it may be a long-drawn-out, expensive process, but I have committed to having a look at this to see what options might be available to our department as to what we can do. Again, I’m expecting we’ll probably run into some reluctance on the operators’ part. But again, it’s consumer affairs protection, and it’s what we need to keep in mind here. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have committed to doing that. Thank you.

I didn’t hear that commitment before. I heard that we’re going to take a long time to look at this and so on. So I’d like some specifics.

Will the Minister find out if there’s some sort of collusion or price-fixing amongst businesses that are selling in Yellowknife that explains why the price is not adjusting with the price elsewhere in Canada and the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Those are some very serious comments, and if there is a belief out there that there is that happening, then I think we need to notify the appropriate parties.

Again, I have committed before that we would look at it, and I mentioned moving a motion. I was just pointing out some options that are available to us as a Legislative Assembly. However, I have committed that we would look at it. But as far as the Member’s specific looking into that, I mean, I’m not sure where our jurisdiction is. I would have to find that out too.

Thanks for the comments from the Minister. These are questions being raised by the public. I’m not making any accusations. I think it would be great for the Minister to do what he can to clarify the situation and get some answers to the public.

I guess I would ask what consumer affairs, the Minister’s department, can do to help people answer this question and make sure they’re getting fair treatment from the gas distributors in Yellowknife compared to elsewhere in the Northwest Territories.

I will have a discussion with our folks over at Consumer Affairs in our department to see what options are available to us. The Member pointed out some of the concerns that were raised in the public and we’ve heard those complaints. I will have a discussion with the folks

over at the department to see what our options are and I will communicate that to the Members.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be quick. I do want to return to the fuel question and build upon what Mr. Bromley had said. I want to stress, earlier I did appreciate the answer by the MACA Minister and I think credit is deserved where credit is due. He did agree to do this. He’s now listening closer to my question because I gave him credit.

The issue is, yes, in regulation those considerations take time, but one of the problems is today. Does the Minister have powers within his scope as Minister, who does do consumer protection, to be able to look at this situation? Because if you read the Yellowknifer today, it’s like everybody’s pointing fingers at each other and that tells me it’s very suspect. What type of powers under his authority as the MACA Minister can he do today to help the consumer?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve heard some of the comments over there about the operators here in Yellowknife and there was a comment of price fixing, but actually with the issue being raised in the House here it may bring attention to it and I think they may have a look at how the prices are set, because I did read the article and I heard one of the comments from one of the gentlemen that was interviewed on how if one did it then the rest of them would lower their prices. I think the fact that we’re raising it here in a public forum might go a long way and have them look at how their prices are set and go from there and see if anything changes again.

I’ve committed a couple of times that we will have a look at it. I would have to do a bit of research to see what authority we have, because this is a private market that’s not regulated by the government. I would have to do a bit of research. I will communicate my findings to the Members.

Although I realize there’s House protection, I still will take great skill in pointing this out not to draw unfair attention, but under the context of price fixing and anti-corruptive activities they certainly are illegal under the federal Competition Act. That is a reality. The way you read the paper is one is waiting for the other. It doesn’t sound like they’re colluding in the same way or whispering what are you going to set this week, but

it does seem to point out the fact that there is some weirdness how they’re working together and one’s not doing anything without the other.

Back to the other question which was what powers under your authority do you have today to influence change?

I would have to find out to see if I have any powers to make a decision today, because as the Minister responsible for Consumer Affairs, if I were to say we want the price on par with the rest of the NWT, do I have that power? I need to find that out before I make statements like that. I have a bit of research to do here. I’ve committed to a couple of Members that I intend on doing that and that I will return to the Members with any information that I may have gathered.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of PWS, the Minister responsible for petroleum products. In the last session I asked the Minister if he would look at some way that would help out the hunters and trappers with the pricing of fuel in our small communities. I want to ask the Minister if he had done some research as to if that’s possible to give a break to the trappers and hunters in the small communities on the pricing of their fuel.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Glen Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated previously, the way the gas prices are determined in communities where Public Works and Services is responsible for the fuel, is we buy the fuel, we ship the fuel, then we add a little bit of profit on top of that for the people that are distributing it in the communities, and then there are, obviously, taxes.

I did take the Member’s question and I did share the comments in my… I did have a conversation with ITI. I haven’t got an answer on that. What I will do is commit to having another discussion with the Minister of ITI to see what there is. Given the gas prices that we have in the small communities, the only place to move is taxes, which is an area that we can’t move on, or the profit for the local vendors, which I don’t think anybody wants us to move on in the small communities. We will certainly have that conversation.

I appreciate the Minister’s flexibility to look at ways that we could look at and that there’s no guarantee. I want to ask the Minister, there are two pricings in our small

community: one with government, and non-government. I’m asking that because the government rate is lower than the non-government, I believe, that the hunters and trappers can use that system. I’m just asking if that’s a possibility with Cabinet if they can go that route, specifically for trappers and hunters in our communities.

The difference in prices between government and non-government users of the fuel in the small communities is basically the GST. The Government of the Northwest Territories does not pay GST but everybody else is going to be required to pay GST. We’ll have that discussion, but at this point I’m not sure that we’re going to be able to reduce or eliminate GST for our non-government customers.

If the Minister could look at that with his colleague and find ways that it’s possible for our hunters and trappers to be covered under that structure of pricing, then it would be greatly appreciated by hunters and trappers that they would buy their fuel at a reduced cost. It costs quite a bit to operate a trapline in our communities. If the Minister could look at that once again, I would appreciate it.

Absolutely I’ll have those discussions with the Minister of ITI, but I don’t want to set any false expectations. Not paying GST is not likely going to be a possibility.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.