Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the questions I had earlier, but this time I’m going to ask the questions of the Minister of Finance.
The one thing I think residents here in the Northwest Territories have a difficult time with is that we ship our resources south — look at the Norman Wells Pipeline, the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project — and then they get trucked back to us, and our residents get charged exorbitant prices for the fuel once it gets back to the Northwest Territories. We have the resources here. That’s the thing I take issue with. I think we need to find a way and means to keep some of this resource here at home to feed our own residents.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Finance: in regard to regulating fuel prices here in the Northwest Territories, I’m wondering if the government has ever done any work in that area to look at the pros and cons of regulation of that industry, as they do in Atlantic Canada.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, there’s been work done in other jurisdictions like New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and assessments of the programs by economists, from what I understand, have concluded that while there may be specific short term, minor gains and political gains, overall there are significant political and economic costs once ceilings are put into place.
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.
What I would like to offer to do is to share the information we have on the issue of regulating fuel prices and gas prices with the Member, the Chair of the EDI committee, and whatever other information they may require. Then we can sit down and have a discussion so that we’re talking from the same base of information. We’ll see as we move forward what may be possible. Clearly, there’s been work done in other jurisdictions, and I’ll commit to doing that so that we can have that informed discussion.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that.
Another question that I do have — and it’s an issue that I’ve raised in the House — gets back to home heating fuel and the fact that the Government of Canada charges GST on home heating fuel. There’s an election going on right now, and I do believe that the Government of the Northwest Territories has to be working with their counterparts in Nunavut and the Yukon Territory to make the federal government understand that charging GST on home heating fuel in northern Canada is the wrong thing to do and that they should stop that practice immediately. That message has to be sent loud and clear to the federal government. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, we’ll note the Member’s concern. I think we’re down to less than two weeks now before the election. The issue of the economy and the cost of living has become one of the major themes in the election, and the Premier as well has heard the concerns. We’ll talk about this and how to best approach that particular issue when we have our next gathering tomorrow morning.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Interjection.
Thank you. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
