MLAs debate financial relief for N.W.T's Sahtu region, gripped by affordability crisis

Danny McNeely, MLA for the Northwest Territories' Sahtu region, said it costs his constituents about $6,200 — a month's paycheck, for many — to fill a standard residential fuel tank. 

McNeely pointed to that as a symptom of the affordability crisis in the region's hub, Norman Wells, which was the subject of an emergency debate in the territory's Legislative Assembly on Thursday. 

During the first day of the fall sitting, members voted to set aside orders of the day to discuss the emergency and the need to support residents in Norman Wells contending with rising costs of fuel and other goods after low water on the Mackenzie River this summer meant cancelled barges.

McNeely said the rising costs threaten residents' ability to continue living in the region. 

The solution? Some MLAs say the territory should cut a cheque. 

Norman Wells Mayor Frank Pope said this week the town is asking for $6.6 million to cover the cost of getting more heating fuel into the community.

According to Kieron Testart, MLA for Range Lake, bailing out Norman Wells would amount to about 0.3 per cent of the territory's budget. That's something he said the territory should be able to prioritize for a crisis he compared to a hurricane or earthquake.

But another MLA cautioned against signalling to Imperial Oil — the main fuel supplier to Norman Wells — that the government has "bottomless pockets" to deal with fuel costs.

Shauna Morgan, MLA for Yellowknife North, said that although Imperial is incurring additional costs by flying fuel into the region, there's no way to know whether the private company is keeping costs to a minimum for customers. 

"So the problem that I see with cutting a cheque to Imperial Oil is that we have no way to guarantee that they still won't unfairly raise prices from what they were previously, while pocketing some of the government subsidy as profit," she said. 

"They could cite all sorts of reasons that they need to raise their prices at any time."

She said that's an unsustainable precedent and it wouldn't support residents in the long run. 

'A cheque to whom?'

Caroline Wawzonek, the minister of finance and deputy premier, said it's also just not that simple.

"A cheque to whom, and a cheque to what amount?" Wawzonek asked during the debate. 

Wawzonek painted a picture of increasing climate change challenges and crises that continue to befall the territory year after year, and said there needs to be money to respond to those emergencies. She said it's difficult to imagine cutting a project from the budget. 

Wawzonek also said the government has been planning for this possibility for months and came up with the $1.8-million relief package to carry residents through to the winter road season. 

She said that too is costing more with the need to increase traffic with heavier loads. 

Wawzonek said she is looking to the federal government for support, and also to Imperial Oil. She said she spoke with the company Thursday morning and expects to meet with officials again in the coming days. 

"I want to emphasize to the residents that there's a lot happening," she said. 

"There's a lot of plates that are in the air. We are keeping them spinning."