Mr. Speaker, we have been investigating, from the beginning of this, how it is affecting our seniors and we continue to look at it. We work with the seniors again. They do have the benefit of the $1,000 exemption, and the bracket would take a significant increase for them to get into the next bracket.

However, the Member asked if I will investigate. I will look at it and I will provide information to the Member. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that commitment. It may not affect too many, but I think if it affects one of our elders or one of our seniors, then it’s important that we look at the impact.

One of the other things that I would like to ask the Minister, there have been instances relayed to me of inconsistencies in rent assessments between seniors, between different LHOs in our communities. So I’d like to know from the Minister what the Housing Corporation does to monitor rent assessments at the LHO level and between LHOs to ensure that there is fairness and consistent assessments across our territory. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, our programs are designed to be more consistent, so all three zones are treated equally. If the Member has specific examples of inconsistencies, I would be pleased to sit down with the Member and hear from the Member any particular cases and we will investigate.

With the new rent scale program, it is very consistent across the board. If there are any inconsistencies the Member pointed out, we would like to know about them so we can address them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has been actively participating in all land claims and self-government negotiations. We recently reviewed all of our mandates under these agreements, in

order to help facilitate the negotiations. We have also been taking the approach where we have been wanting to improve our working relationships with Aboriginal governments. For those Aboriginal governments that are still negotiating land claims, we have approached them and indicated that we are interested in working with them, and also indicated to them that we would be in a much better position if we could work together and approach the Government of Canada to facilitate these negotiations. I think that we have had a number of discussions with the Dehcho First Nation, and the Akaitcho, as well as the Metis Nation of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am glad the Minister highly puts significance on maintaining a workable relationship with First Nations that have unsettled areas, that haven’t settled their land claims yet. Recently the Premier and Cabinet have openly stated that they are very close to finalizing a Devolution Agreement-in-Principle. What is this government doing to prepare communities for devolution? Mahsi.

Our devolution team, and as well as respected members of the Dene communities that have been contracted, have been to every community in the Northwest Territories to explain devolution, except for some communities in the Akaitcho. I think there are maybe one or two communities in the Deh Cho that we still have to get to. But for the most part, we’ve been to every region and every community to explain devolution. Thank you.

Mahsi. I think what I’m seeing at this point with the recent return trip from Ottawa, I think the North has reached a point where we’re looking at the NWT as an iconic north star. It’s a beacon of hope and potential, especially with the GNWT working with First Nations alongside the First Nations and non-Aboriginal peoples.

I understand that the previous Assembly undertook a vision and exercise toward a common vision for the NWT. It’s about basically building upon the political future of the NWT. What elements of this work have been carried forward into the current initiatives that we’re seeing? Mahsi.

I guess the practice for every Assembly is it builds on the work of the previous Assemblies, and we have done that. That report has helped inform us as we move forward in negotiating devolution. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is we carry the principle of consensus highly, and that’s what makes this government very unique. So as we advance toward a final resolution of the Devolution Agreement, will this government and this Cabinet ensure that the principle of

consensus guide the finalization of the Devolution Agreement? Mahsi.

Thank you. We are a consensus government, and absolutely, we will work under that premise. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Dan McTeague in today’s Yellowknifer says basically the price of fuel in Yellowknife should be around $1.16. He highlights about a 22 cent difference that who knows where that money is really going. He emphasizes about a two cent difference that should exist between Yellowknife and Hay River, not 17 cents as of today or 26 cents as of yesterday.

So my question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, but rightly so, as the Minister who is responsible for consumer protection. So my question quite clearly is this: Would the Minister be willing to take the necessary steps to delegate his department to set a process in place that develops fuel regulations to protect Northerners? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re well aware of the article in the paper and the fact that many residents here in Yellowknife have an issue with the price of gasoline in Yellowknife. If we were to get some concern from the general public, if they have specific questions that they might want answered, I would advise them to contact consumer affairs, and we will look at them on a case-by-case basis. Thank you.

Thank you. What the Minister basically said is the public has to go and complain and complain, but the problem is quite obvious. Members can speak quite loudly and clearly.

What is stopping this Minister from taking some action to show the consumer that they actually care about the fact that they work hard for those paycheques? Because right now what I’m hearing is let’s do nothing until they really complain and we have to. Thank you.

Thank you. Make no mistake about it, Municipal and Community Affairs does care, and that’s why we have the consumer affairs department. This is private enterprise, and prices are set by the operators here in the capital. If we were to have to try and regulate gas prices, it would be a long process. However, I can commit to the Member that we will do some due diligence here, do a little bit of research, and try to see what we can come up with. But the fact that if we had to

go to regulation, I mean if it’s a long-drawn-out process, I’m sure it would take an amount of time. Thank you.

Thank you. I’m going to acknowledge and thank the Minister for that openness to take a look at it, but I will disagree with him in the sense of the process and problem. New Brunswick, PEI, as well as several other places do this. So hence there is a model that exists. The question is: What does he actually mean he’ll do when he says they’ll take a look at this? Of course, he also has said he’s well aware of this problem highlighted in the newspaper. So the fact is we’re being disadvantaged, if not taken advantage of, by retailers. There is a public role in this, Mr. Speaker, and I expect the Minister to take that full responsibility of being aware of it. Thank you.

Thank you. We do take the concerns of the public very seriously here. Again, I pointed out that there is a process that we have to go through, and I’m sure the governments that the Member had mentioned just didn’t do it in a day. There are opportunities for us here in the Legislative Assembly to get the message out there, and by the Member asking questions is one of them. There’s also an opportunity to move a motion to have us have a look at this. But regardless, we are monitoring this, and we will continue to monitor it and see what options might be available to Municipal and Community Affairs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.