Tom Beaulieu

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement I talked about the cost of living mandate. I have questions for the Premier. I would like to ask the Premier if he agrees that retrofitting homes for energy efficiency would reduce the cost of living for people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have a question on the commercial fishers. It indicates on there that it is to offset the high cost of freight or production costs. Is that for the whole of Great Slave Lake, or is that the whole territory? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee would like to consider Tabled Document 322-18(3), Main Estimates, 2019-2020, with the Department of Infrastructure and Industry, Tourism and Investment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is exactly my issue, the inflexibility of that program. The Minister is telling me that they would be flexible. Do the people on the ground, the officers, when an individual applies for a program, just change the program to make sure that the program that they do need is what they get? Do the people on the ground, officers, have that ability to make that change? Thank you.

Currently the program has a maximum amount of $10,000. My question is more: can we increase that amount? Right now, the idea of aging in place is to age in place. Right? If you don't have the ability to go beyond $10,000, you are not going to allow the senior to age in his home, and that is the idea. Right now we have situations where the budget is maxed, and a person can't change their heating system, for example, to something more efficient. I would like to ask the Minister if there is a plan to increase the limit on the program, like the amount that an individual can ge?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Affordable daycare would give an opportunity for people to find work, and there are not many jobs in the small communities. Does the Premier agree that job creation should be one of the GNWT's highest priorities in reducing poverty? Thank you.

Another item for cost of living, according to me, anyway, is affordable daycare. Does the Premier support all efforts of creating affordable daycare?

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of discussion about our government doing what it can to reduce the cost of living for our citizens. In fact, it's a mandate of our government to do just that. However, Mr. Speaker, the opposite is occurring because, over the years, we've seen cost increases to our citizens in various ways, some through taxes, leases, fees, and inflation. This has in effect increased the cost of living.

Mr. Speaker, I've risen many times in the House, offering ideas on how to decrease costs to our people and our government, which for the most part have...

Are the fishers from Yellowknife included in that, or just people from the south of the lake? Thank you.