Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with MTS, I mean, with all they're buying bulk fuel. Where are they buying their bulk fuel from. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel in our communities really affecting our people. I really would like to see if our government would be committing to cap fuel prices and increases in our communities because we used to get it at Edmonton rack price so you'd be a year out and it wouldn't really affect. But now that I think they're buying their fuel somewhere else and being shipped around over the top, it might be costing a bit more, I don't know. But is it available or are they willing to work to cap the prices for the coastal communities of Sachs Harbour, Ulukhaktok, and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just in regards to  I bring this up every year, and  in regards to longterm care for my riding. We have home support. Thank them for, the staff for what they do and the home care support workers in the community. I want to thank you for all what you've done for our people and our elders. But I really think it's time to build a  like I've been bringing up working on bringing up in Sachs, or Ulukhaktok, trying to work with the Minister to get that done with a private company that's able to build it. They will come, you know, so to say. But I'm really hoping that we could...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I bet it's pretty cheap fuel they're buying. So in regards to, because they're buying so much. When you buy that much you get a price, you know, decrease in the price because you're buying bulk. Is it possible, like, the Minister just to look into it to find out. I want to have a breakdown of where the cost is affected in the cost that they're giving it to the communities and if it's possible to get that in writing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Ulukhaktok's gas price is $1.94. Sachs Harbour $1.95. Paulatuk, $1.93  or $1.34. Mr. Speaker, this is 50 cents more than anywhere across, like you go in Yellowknife it's 50 cents more back home. People got to live, trying to survive. I mean, not everybody has government jobs back home. We need to try to protect our constituents, Mr. Speaker, in regards to that. MTS I don't think is a makeprofit company because it's owned by the GNWT which I think all that contract that they did get for north warning system, they should be sharing the wealth of it. So in regards to that, I think that something...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about cost of living in my riding and the cost of fuel that's going up. Everywhere across the NWT we know this means the cost of living is going to be going up when the fuel is essential. Fuel transportation is to heat our homes, to hunt.

Mr. Speaker, we need fuel. And Mr. Speaker, we need the fuel prices. When it gets bad in the southern markets we know it's just a matter of time before it comes north.

Three out of four of my communities in my riding have fuel set by our Government of the Northwest Territories. As September 27th, 2021, gasoline...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I just want to make sure that this stays on the books for my community of Tuk, and any time it's for small communities, they're ready to get cut. And I really think that we should be taking a real good serious look at everything else that's paid everywhere else in the bigger communities, bigger centres and that, as soon as it starts to come to the communities, we're the first thing they're looking at cutting. So if they want to start cutting, go start cutting. So it's really upsetting, I guess, to make sure that we're bringing projects forward for the communities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just -- no, I don't want to take away all the good work that's been done by my leadership by our government in regards to providing all the help they could with the health and our medical staff up in Tuk have been awesome. They flew in people, Arlene Jorgensen. Thank her so much in regards to the service that she's been doing for the people. But this is the biggest thing, is to make sure that we are able -- if we're able to help the community in paying their bills instead of shortchanging, taking busing away from here, and doing -- taking other monies...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So all the -- I guess across the territory, that includes everybody that has a -- was locked down, our COVID Secretariat with the outbreak for the isolation centre. What about the road, the check stops? Is the community going to be reimbursed for that through MACA because it's coming out of the local community's purse. And that shouldn't be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it took 18 months for the pandemic to finally hit my riding of Nunakput. The first scare we had was in Ulukhaktok and I really want to thank our mayor Josh Oliktoak and his staff and the health centre staff that did the awesome job to contain that, and then we didn't really have an outbreak there.

But unfortunately it came to Tuk. I want to thank the community leadership, my mayor Erwin Elias, the TCC chair, and all the nurses and the health care workers, and the Rangers, who have been working nonstop to take care of our people. And I also want to thank our health care...