Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Northerners are reeling from the increased costs of gas, diesel and home heating fuel and are fearful for what this winter will bring. Not only does it cost more to put gas in our vehicles and to heat our homes, but these sky rocketing fuel prices are affecting and impacting the everyday cost of living of all Northerners. As a result of these high fuel prices, we are living with increases in electricity, food and other goods and services.
The bottom line is that this government needs to stand up for Northerners and protect them by introducing regulations that monitor and stabilize fuel prices. Gas price regulation will make a real difference for our residents. It will stop gas price volatility, eliminate opportunistic price gouging, and deliver fair, stable and predictable fuel prices and hopefully eliminate price poaching.
Five other provinces have implemented fuel price regulations with serious success. New Brunswick, for example, sets fuel prices every two weeks based on global oil prices, fair transportation costs and certainly a reasonable margin. I hope that the Finance Minister is listening.
Our citizens matter, Mr. Speaker, and I certainly hope that this government finally takes that to heart. We need to be protecting them. Excuses need to be stopped. There’s not one person in this building who didn’t run to say we are going to stop those people who like to say no instead of saying yes. Let’s start standing up for our territorial residents by protecting them. That’s why we’re here.
Which side of this problem does this Finance Minister want to be on? Does he want to be on the side of protecting the producers or maybe the citizens? I can tell you that I’d be on the side of the citizens.
So, Mr. Speaker, there’s no reason why this government can’t do the same here. The regulatory mechanisms already exist within our bureaucracy, so establishing a process would not be onerous or expensive in any way. People work hard for their paycheques, and they get angry when the gas prices suddenly shoot up overnight by 10 cents without a resupply or any other excuse proving why this is. Is the bureaucracy protecting the producers? They should be protecting the people.
Mr. Speaker, we can’t sit idly by in this situation watching our Northerner’s money being gouged by these people. High prices have to be protected against for the citizens, and we have to stop this. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.
