David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier today. It gets back to my Member’s statement where I was talking about this new proposal the Government of the Northwest Territories put forward to the federal government that was in addition to the devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations that were ongoing.

Everybody knows that the Government of the Northwest Territories has been trying to get a deal with the federal government for the past 20 years. This may or may not be a good proposal that the government has put forward, but all of a sudden, to plop a massive — and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to speak today about the ongoing developments on the devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations with the federal government. The Premier recently shared with Regular Members some correspondence between our government and the federal government, and I must say I was quite surprised with the new tack being taken with the negotiations. Aside from what I read in the correspondence, I have also heard the Premier mention this new proposal in his sessional statement to the House on Wednesday. There have also been news reports and interviews of both the Premier...

Mr. Speaker, I don’t disagree with the Premier. Obviously, we need to do something. If they are moving forward with this, that is good. I just think it would be nice to know on this side of the House, especially with what I have seen and heard. It’s a billion dollar cost shared infrastructure agreement with the federal government.

Maybe I could ask the Premier this question: where is the $500 million coming from in the Government of Northwest Territories to cost share with the federal government’s $500 million?

I appreciate the challenge that the government finds itself in, and I know the pressures on our infrastructure and the need for more money. You can’t debate that. But the fact remains there was an impasse. The government has put a new proposal on the table to the federal government without first consulting the Regular Members of this House — duly elected Members — and I’ve heard from other Members that perhaps aboriginal governments across the Northwest Territories weren’t consulted on this either.

So, again, let’s be up front with each other. Let’s put the deal on the table before we take it...

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take this time to recognize a friend of mine, Everett McQueen, and his two lovely daughters he has with him, Wynter and Montana. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use my Member’s statement today to continue to talk about the cost of living here in the Northwest Territories. Yesterday I spoke about how offside the government is with their proposed tax initiatives and how by even discussing increasing the cost of living they are scaring residents and potential residents away.

Last winter I heard from many residents who were having a difficult time paying their home heating fuel bills, and now this winter it is going to be 25 per cent more than last winter. I really am worried that coupled with the proposed 19 per cent rate...

Just for discussion purposes I’d like to ask the Minister today if his government, the government here, would take a look at regulating gas prices and home heating fuel prices here in the Northwest Territories. At least let’s look at it. Let’s put everything on the table, the pros and cons. I think our residents need that stability in pricing and not the volatility that they’ve been experiencing lately.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve lived in Yellowknife for almost 29 years, and I don’t really recall there being any difference in prices at the pump for any extended period of time whatsoever in that 29 years, and I’ve been driving since I was 18.

Again, I want to ask the Minister: will the Government of the Northwest Territories engage the federal Competition Bureau to launch an investigation into fuel pricing in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that. I’m familiar with the Yellowknife market. If you look at the retailers here in Yellowknife, everybody seems to have the same price, which would lead me to believe that there’s some type of price fixing going on.

Like I said, there is no corresponding decrease at the pump or at the fuel truck when world oil prices come down, like there is in southern Canada. I do believe that there should be an investigation. I do believe that the consumer protection division at MACA should work with the federal Competition Bureau and look at this, have an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal Competition Bureau should be consulted, and I’d like to see an investigation conducted here in the Northwest Territories market communities. Does it really cost 30 cents a litre to transport fuel from Edmonton? The scary thing for residents here in the North Slave region is that we’re building a $170 million bridge that we don’t need with money we don’t have, only to charge tolls and make goods like fuel more expensive for residents here in the North Slave. Mahsi.