Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to your attention the high cost of living in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort-Delta region. My constituents work very hard to keep their homes warm in the winter, to feed their families, and to maintain their vehicles.
Mr. Speaker, these costs, the costs of the normal business of daily life, add up very quickly. Imagine living in the Mackenzie Delta in 1978, where we waited on the banks for barges to come in to deliver food and supplies. I can't imagine the costs related to all the supplies or the amounts of trapping that had to be done in order to pay for food and supplies. When the Dempster Highway opened in 1979, it opened the rest of Canada to the North, and, when the truckloads of food and supplies came down that highway, our people were happy; costs were cut tremendously.
Mr. Speaker, it's been 40 years since then. Today, we have more people unemployed, and, with jobs scarce, money is hard to come by. Food and other supplies that we need to live are increasingly out of reach. Many times, local families suffer because they can't buy healthy food or keep their homes heated. What about the fuel supply itself? Last winter, Fort McPherson ran out of gas and groceries altogether.
When shoulder season ferry services were cut, Mr. Speaker, these are the very outcomes I feared: sky-high costs, bare shelves, and gas pumps run dry.
Instead, it would make so much sense to keep the Louis Cardinal and Abraham Francis ferries open until the ice bridge is built. Extending the length of the season would benefit communities and prevent air transportation price mark-ups. Improved access also makes the Mackenzie Delta more enticing to potential tourists.
Earlier in this Assembly, Mr. Speaker, ferry services were cut to save money. Any savings, though, have gone to the Department of Infrastructure, not to the people making their homes in our small communities.
I would like to see action on this file, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions at the appropriate time. Thank you.