Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am pleased to be back in this House today after a long break doing constituency work, et cetera. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a warm welcome to Mr. Lafferty from Monfwi. I’ve known him a long time, since our Akaitcho Hall days, and I can say truly that he’ll be a great contribution to this House and to the Tlicho people. I can say that with a full heart.

Mr. Speaker, I’m going to bring up the fact that almost a year ago today I rose on a statement to express deep concern about world oil prices and the effects that can cause crises elsewhere in the world. I was concerned about how this government was dealing with this situation. I was worried whether or not this government was monitoring that crisis or if we were just going to wait for the bills to arrive and just pay them as if nothing happened.

Mr. Speaker, I encouraged this government to be proactive, implement energy cost-saving plans right then and there. I asked, what are we doing about this problem? Reducing our usage? Looking at dialling back those heat registers? Are we looking at turning off the lights at the end of the day? However, Mr. Speaker, my kind and well-meant concerns and advice were met by laughter from this government.

Mr. Speaker, the Finance Minister responded by saying that maybe the government could issue a directive saying that no light bulbs should be brighter than 40 watts. That was horrible. I’m surprised they didn’t issue candles, for goodness sake.

Mr. Speaker, instead of being proactive, this government actually cut the funding contribution to the Arctic Energy Alliance by $70,000. I think they lost more than their fair share of a pound of flesh. That really hurt that organization.

Mr. Speaker, at that time a barrel of oil went for $50 U.S., but today that same barrel of oil is going for $64.30; quite a significant increase.

Mr. Speaker, today I hope no one is laughing because I certainly am not laughing, least of all the public of our Northwest Territories, because we’re ramping up for a seven-month long, hard, cold winter. It’s the worst time oil prices could be where they are. Everyone is going to have to be careful this winter, Mr. Speaker, and I’m going to tell you that the public is keeping their eye on this government and I have concerns that we need to be on top of this issue. It’s about smart energy usage.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of FMBS, the Honourable Floyd Roland, will have the pleasure of my energy questions today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause