Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are all aware of the extreme financial and economic crisis playing out in the United States. We are also acutely aware of the roller coaster global stock markets reacting to the attempts of the U.S. government to respond. This volatility extends to the Toronto Stock Exchange and Canadian investments.
Northerners have closely watched the price of oil soaring to record highs before declining to about $100 per barrel today. We have noticed how erratic and unpredictable the price is. Those who bravely forecast the future price of oil do so now in a timid voice with many caveats and wide margins.
Northerners are keenly watching the prices of food and housing, which are climbing steeply. Mr. Speaker, we are as yet uncertain about what impact a recession south of the border will have on Canada and, more specifically, on the North. Though we are concerned, we do have our misgivings. We know how closely and increasingly tied we are to the global economy and especially the ailing U.S. economy. Many of us are hugely uncomfortable with such an intimate relationship in which we have absolutely no control or influence. Conditions can change in an instant in the global economy.
People who are doing well financially buy diamonds and expensive northern holidays regardless of the price of fuel, but these consumers fade away when the economy dives. Yet in almost every news release from our own Premier’s office we seem fixated upon entrenching ourselves further in this global economy. Our leaders say we must fully participate and enjoy all the rewards and riches mega-development will bring.
Mr. Speaker, this is balderdash. It is nonsense, because it ignores the unaccounted costs and vulnerabilities that come with it: the environmental costs, the sale of our resources with no ability to capture value, the vulnerability to global economic swings, the declining quality of life and increasing crime.
Though we are currently putting all our eggs in one basket, a basket that is very fragile and easily unravelled, there is a way to ensure a more secure future. That way is to invest in diversified, small scale, local economies that build community and increase self-sufficiency rather than dependence.
While the global economy has devastated the great fisheries resources of the world’s oceans, our own Great Slave Lake fish stock is harvested at 15 per cent of sustainable yields. Our once great northern gardens with astounding produce are talked about as history, while we purchase cabbages and carrots from afar. Our water used to be a national standard….
Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I request unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Young northern entrepreneurs are increasingly absent while we support multinationals. This government continues to promote these trends while wailing about our loss of population, lack of performance in our local economies, trades and social institutions and the soaring costs of energy.
Mr. Speaker, we have an opportunity to move forward in a different way. I ask the government to show our public that they actually see the connections in the choices we make and that they will be changing course and making the right choice. I look forward to responding to the opening address. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
