Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about cost of living and how it impacts all Northerners, especially from the side of this particular House, my colleagues and I, where we work together and we share in some of the collective burden talking about these issues and sharing them with the government about what Northerners struggle.

Mr. Speaker, cost of living isn't just an individual issue, it's a territorial issue. And if anything, I'd certainly identify it as a crisis that needs to be a hallmark of this Assembly where we chip away and find ways to make lives not only better but just certainly more affordable. Mr. Speaker, you know, if you live in Yellowknife as an example, you're paying at least 30 cents per kilowatt. You know, you can say, well our tax burden is different than other places like Ontario. But when you're paying 10 or 12 cents a kilowatt, you know, there is a huge disparity in the sense of the challenges Northerners get through day to day. So our tax burden may not be the same but that said, our burden on getting through the day to day is certainly not comparable to anywhere else in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, this touches the lives and families of everyday Northerners. So whether you live in Tsiigehtchic or you live in a Tu Nedhe riding, trying to put food on the table and you're always worrying about the shrinking dollar to reach that goal of feeding your family, taking care of them, or even simply buying birthday presents and, you know, kitchen table economics may not seem a lot or it may not be on the attention of this government, but the fact is it's on the attention and the eye of every one of our community members here working together.

Mr. Speaker, I hear whether you're in Inuvik that power bills are outrageous. I hear that whether you're in a Tlicho community that they have to make strong burdensome choices that families should not have to face by themselves. But there's also the hidden costs of the cost of living that we tend not to spend a lot of time on. You know, such as not being able to participate in curling or hockey, which we all know is certainly a pride of most Northerners here, or being able to afford to buy skis for their kids so they can get out and do these types of things or, heck, engage in other types of social activities that mean so much.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of living affects us more than just the power bill. It affects us as who we are and who we identify as people of the North. Mr. Speaker, I'll have questions for the Premier on this particular subject. Now, he'll have the idea of maybe or the excitement of passing it on to the Finance Minister, but my questions will be more about what type of general government policy he's going to extend to his Ministers to make sure that they are working as hard as they can on this burden to help support all Northerners on this crisis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.