Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my colleague from the Sahtu. The people of the Sahtu are hard hit right now, specifically in Norman Wells.

I find the Member for Sahtu words quite chilling, it could be your community next. And I think -- and that's, of course, not disparaging against my honourable friend but I think the point is very well felt. After, you know, an unprecedented season of wildfires where 70 percent or more of the territory was evacuated, I think we all have that shared sense of anxiety that we are -- our lifestyles in the Northwest Territories are balanced on a knife edge, and all it takes is one shock to tip the scales one way or the other. $6,000 in fuel costs. Can you imagine, Mr. Speaker? I certainly can't. I couldn't afford to be in the Northwest Territories if that happened. And it's not just -- this is a crisis. There can be no other word for it, and a humanitarian crisis. This isn't a political stunt or a rhetorical flourish. This is a humanitarian crisis, the kind of magnitude that we see after a hurricane or an earthquake. The chaos that people feel in their community and the sense of unease. That anxiety isn't going to be solved by finding someone to blame. What we need now as the Member -- as my friend said, are solutions. And the solution is quite clear to me: We need to bail out this community. We need to provide that financial relief.

And when you think of it in real terms -- I did the calculations -- the total request is -- we have the -- the government has brought forward $1.8 million in a relief program for businesses, which is welcomed. But the $6.6 million that the community's now asking for is 0.3 percent of our total budget. 0.3 percent. Of course, all these things add up, and we have to prioritize. This is something I'm happy to prioritize. And we are -- we have the convenience of sitting right now and being able to bring forward appropriations on an emergency basis. I mean, you could spend via special warrant as well. But what's required now is not to apportion blame. It's to provide relief to the people of Norman Wells otherwise the people aren't going to stay in the community. I've spoken with my friend, and he tells me people are saying they will leave, and they will not look back. Because they can't. It's not that they want to leave. They can't stay. And no one should be forced into that situation in the Northwest Territories.

Everything is local in politics, they say, and in the Northwest Territories things are even more local. It doesn't matter that we live in such a vast territory. We all know each other in communities. We all feel the same thing; some more than others. And this affordability crisis, there's so many words we've heard that apply to it. Unacceptable, unimaginable, unthinkable, unprecedented. And all these things are true. And now the onus is on us as leaders of the territory to solve this crisis.

And you know, this discussion started yesterday behind closed doors, and I think it was a good discussion, and I'm glad we're doing it out on the floor today outside of the caucus Chamber. We have great discussions all the time where everyone jumps in, both sides of the House, but the public doesn't get the benefit of hearing them very often. This is a rare opportunity for all Members to speak and to share their perspective. And I hope we hear about the challenges that our friends on the other side of the House face in executing their duties as Cabinet Ministers. I know it's hard to balance budgets. I know it's hard to be responsible for those portfolios. But when there's a crisis, you must rise to meet the moment. And this is a crisis. This is a humanitarian crisis. There's no other words for it.

The Member from Sahtu has been raising this with us, his colleagues, for months now. This is not new information, but it has steadily gotten worse and steadily gotten to the point where we can't ignore it anymore. I hope that our colleagues and our leaders in Ottawa are listening and that they look at Hansard, and they see the unprecedented nature of this debate. This hasn't happened in recent records to have an emergency debate. And this matter, this crisis, is being elevated to that point for that exact reason, that we need people to listen, we need people to understand the crisis, the dire circumstances that Norman Wells and the people of the Sahtu are in. And it doesn't matter that where -- you know, and it's all the -- all the territory has to come together. It doesn't matter what constituency we represent. It matters that we are standing together when people are in need. And I know that if my -- that my constituents in Range Lake were faced with a similar crisis, that my friends up and down the Valley would be standing at my side shoulder to shoulder to help them as well. And that is what the North does best, we come together in a crisis, and we help people. You know, our compassion knows no bounds and our resilience knows no bounds. We can overcome this, and we can find the resources. And if it means we need to readjust other priorities, then so be it.

But as I say, now is not the time to apportion blame. Now is not the time to ask another level of government to solve the problem. We need to rise to the challenge today and deal with it now, deal with it urgently. We can figure out how to pay for it later. Whether it's a shift in other priorities or projects that have to be scrapped, but now is the timed for that relief to flow. We don't need to overthink this. Let's cut a cheque. Let's cut it today. Let's give the people of the Sahtu the relief they desperately need and save a community. Because that's where we're at. That's what a humanitarian crisis is. We do not want to see another community destroyed by climate change. Maybe not physically, but the fabric -- the social fabric of that community is under threat right now. And we can't afford that in the Northwest Territories, not again. And I won't be privy to it -- or I won't be a part of that if I can help it. And although these are just words today, Mr. Speaker, I hope they find -- they meet the mark and meet the moment and encourage our decision makers at all levels of government to make the right choice and to provide the relief that's so desperately needed for Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.