Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Premier. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, the Premier believes that subsidies lower the cost of living. As I mentioned in my statement, I don’t agree with him.
All the Members in this House I think have expressed concern recently about the expected increase that we’re going to experience in home heating fuel. Some have suggested that the government must implement a subsidy to assist residents. I’d like to ask the Premier how a fuel subsidy will reduce the NWT cost of living.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process we’re undergoing is budget preparations, as well as trying to look at cost effectiveness of programs. A number of initiatives we’ve started. The issue of subsidies is one we’ve looked at for quite a number of years. The total package ranges over $100 million, when you look at all the areas of housing, fuel subsidy and income support.
In the short term I’d say we have to look at the fact that we do limit the impact or stabilize the cost of living in many of our small and remote communities. Without that subsidy, the cost would go extremely higher. Our Territorial Power Support Program is an example of that. But I do believe in the long term that the market adjusts for those things. We do have to look at the way we spend our money in the area of subsidies and, as we go through our business plan preparations, be willing to hear from Members as to suggestions of how we look at things and ways we try to tackle this issue.
I thank the Premier for his comments. I didn’t really hear an answer — I guess I’m looking for a philosophical discussion here, but I didn’t really hear an answer — as to how the fuel subsidy will reduce the cost of living overall.
The cost of a litre of fuel is the cost of a litre of fuel, whether it’s subsidized or otherwise. A subsidy will simply reduce the bill to the building owner for heating that particular building. In my mind the only way to reduce the actual cost of living for the homeowner is to use an alternative or cheaper source of heat. I’d like to know if the Premier agrees with me.
I would agree with what the Member stated. The way we look at how we generate our electricity costs or just the generation of electricity and how it’s distributed across the North and then how we as a government deal with that side of it…. Again, our Territorial Power Support Program does limit and help with the cost of living in our more remote communities. If that full cost was passed on, then more dollars out of our constituents’ pockets would be spent on just utilities.
But we do need to look at other things. That is why, for example, the discussion paper has been launched by Minister Bob McLeod in the areas looking at alternative energies. As our budget preparation moves forward in the next cycle, we’re looking at trying to make critical investments in the area of other energy technologies so that we can look long term at reducing the cost of living. One of those big goals would be the hydro strategy.
Again, thanks to the Premier for his comments. He’s mentioned some of the things that we need to do, that we are doing, to try to mitigate the costs to all of our residents of actually living in this particular part of the country. I would like to ask the Minister specifically what actions are being undertaken to try and lower the cost of living for our residents in the short term. By short term I mean within the next six to eight months, over this winter.
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of things that are being reviewed in highlights of the upcoming budget preparations. More recently, for example, we’ve increased the Seniors Fuel Subsidy to limit the impact of the cost of living on our seniors who are on fixed incomes. That’s one of the areas, and again, that is short term. Other things we have to look at are mini hydro in some of our communities and wind technology to be put in place.
I think one of the other things we do need to look at, again, goes back to our main power source in the Northwest Territories and how we look at that. I stated earlier in this House that I met with the board and had a discussion with them about the fact that we could not leave any stone unturned in trying to limit the impact of the cost of living and the cost of electricity generation to Northerners.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Premier. I appreciate that some things are long term. I am particularly concerned, as I said, about the six to eight month period that’s upcoming. I hear that there are a couple of things there.
The Premier mentioned the increase in the subsidy for seniors for their home heating fuel. I have to state that I disagree that a subsidy is going to have an impact on the cost of living. The fuel is still going to cost the same amount of money whether there’s a subsidy for me as a senior or not. I’d like to say to the Premier that I think we have a disagreement in semantics. My understanding of the phrase “cost of living” I don’t think is the same as the Premier’s. I’d like to ask him if he agrees.
I agree to disagree, is maybe the term we can use. I look at the cost of living and I think a lot of us look at the cost of living as what we have pay out of our pockets to survive here in the Northwest Territories. Some of our steps are taken to mitigate that cost of living.
I agree that the cost for the real product is still there, and we have to work with that. For example, one of the other things we are working on through the Minister of ENR and his department, along with the Arctic Energy Alliance, I believe, is rebates on stoves and other equipment for homes. That, in the short term, can help individuals change over to a more efficient system that could help in their monthly costs as well.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
