Robert C. McLeod

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.

Mr. Speaker, the income levels for seniors, especially those that are on a very fixed income, the rent assessment won’t change very much. We do have a scale where they are allowed to get up to a certain amount in increases before the rent changes. With the small increases they get with pensions especially, that really doesn’t affect the minimum rent or the rent that they will be paying. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Member to repeat her question, if you don’t mind.

I would have to find out to see if I have any powers to make a decision today, because as the Minister responsible for Consumer Affairs, if I were to say we want the price on par with the rest of the NWT, do I have that power? I need to find that out before I make statements like that. I have a bit of research to do here. I’ve committed to a couple of Members that I intend on doing that and that I will return to the Members with any information that I may have gathered.

I will have a discussion with our folks over at Consumer Affairs in our department to see what options are available to us. The Member pointed out some of the concerns that were raised in the public and we’ve heard those complaints. I will have a discussion with the folks over at the department to see what our options are and I will communicate that to the Members.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have committed to doing that. 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...

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.

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.

Mr. Speaker, the income levels for the seniors are whatever household income that they bring in with all the different types of income that they are eligible for. As well, we have a $1,000 exemption for the seniors. So $1,000 is exempted from determining their rent that they pay. Thank you.