Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re talking a lot about the cost of living today. So what makes up Northerners’ cost of living? Well, food, water, vehicles and the gas to put in it, lodging, taxes, power, heat, phone, insurance, clothing, entertainment, TV, Internet; it’s a long list. But what can we do about our costs? Some are easily controlled; others, not so much.
I have some suggestions about what we can do. We can increase the Seniors Home Heating Fuel Subsidy. It hasn’t seen an increase in four years, yet we all know the cost of fuel has gone up every year. We can apply concerted pressure to the federal government to increase the basic northern residents tax deduction, which would increase our residents’ tax refunds. We must increase the number of low-cost or public housing units for low-income wage earners. We can apply concerted pressure again to the federal government to change the Nutrition North Program so it’s more effective for NWT residents and really actually does reduce food costs. We can make changes to our taxation regime for agriculture land, lower the mill rate to encourage farming and increase our local food supply, in effect eliminating or reducing our reliance on imported foods. We can put more money and support into community garden programs for the same reasons. We can provide training to residents to develop sustainable local food programs, another way to lower food costs. We can bring back the Community Freezer Program for storage of country foods to feed the community; more lower food costs. We can put a greater focus, or we can start a campaign for healthy foods, provide incentives for residents to buy healthy, natural foods instead of processed food stuffs. We can increase meal programs in schools. Children will be healthier and food costs for families will be reduced.
Then there is power, Mr. Speaker. That is a big cost and a big problem. This government has spent millions exploring power generation and transmission, both concepts now to be abandoned. Instead of spending those millions, we should have been investing far more heavily in alternative energies, for example, and the technology exists, so why do we not have any community biomass power or heating systems in place yet? Where is the NTPC conservation campaign that we heard so much about, the one that will help us reduce our power bills?
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Many of the things I have mentioned are small things, but either on their own or added together they can contribute to a lower cost of living.
This government has danced around the issue of lowering our cost of living without any in-depth engagement on it. We have thrown subsidies at it, instead of taking action to make inroads in how we live our lives. It’s time we changed our thinking or our plans or we will subsidize ourselves into debt. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
