Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance in regard to the issue I raised about how fuel prices have declined greatly but our communities still pay a very high price. I used the situation in Aklavik, where the fuel increased by 3 cents to $1.76 a litre. To the Minister of Finance: do we have any consumer protection legislation in place that we can bring into force so that we can protect the consumers from these wide fluctuations in fuel prices?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the small communities POL brings in the fuel. The resupply has been completed. Those costs and prices are set according to what they pay at the time of the resupply. In other communities on the road system that can be resupplied through the free market, there’s no regulatory regime in place to control prices, nor is there any on the books we have that I’m aware of.
Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the prices, especially with fuel commodities and gas, have no problem going up whenever there’s a fuel increase or there’s a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, but it seems like they have a real problem bringing down the prices when the price decreases.
Again, I’d like to ask the Minister, since we don’t have that legislation, if that is something the government would consider looking at, knowing that this problem does have implications right across Canada. I think as a territory we’re not exempt from that, especially when we do depend on provinces such as Alberta and elsewhere for our fuel commodities.
I’d like to ask the Minister: is that something this government’s considering in regard to reducing the cost of living and also having a system in place to protect the residents of the Northwest Territories?
The information I’ve seen from other jurisdictions where they’ve attempted to regulate gas prices just shows in the long term that there are no real long term benefits to the residents of that jurisdiction. In many cases it has a counterproductive influence, where if the prices aren’t right or if they’re too low, the folks who supply the fuel will just go to other jurisdictions where they can get a far better price. I don’t think, on the face of it, that we want to be running down the path setting up those kinds of forces in the market system we currently have.
Mr. Speaker, maybe the Minister can tell us exactly what type of authority this government does have, because it doesn’t seem like we are doing anything in this area. Does this government have responsibility in regard to consumer protection by way of a legislative authority?
We have some consumer protection authority in terms of the issue of regulating fuel prices. It’s not an area we are involved in. We do have the ability to set taxes on motive and non-motive fuel, but in terms of issuing instructions to the marketplace and putting in those types of price controls, it’s not an area we are involved in.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, again I’d like to ask the Minister if he can seriously take a look into this. I think we as government have the responsibility to protect our consumers from these types of unjust acts by big industry. I think it is an issue right across Canada, an issue in regard to oil companies making $30 billion profit. It seems like the consumer at the end of the day is the one getting the end of the pipe here. I’d just like to ask the Minister: will he seriously take a look at this and bring something back to the Legislative Assembly?
Again, I’d like to tell the Member that in fact the evidence that is there would indicate that this is not a way to productively try to impact the cost of fuel in terms of affordability. The Conference Board of Canada has come to that conclusion, as have many esteemed economists, that in the long run there are major economic and social/political costs to that type of regime. At this point it’s not an area we have an intention of getting actively involved in.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
