Mr. Speaker, in December, I raised Grande Cache as an example of a remote area that is bearing the brunt of rising grocery costs. Residents of Grande Cache have been fighting for years to have their community recognized under the northern residents deduction, a program designed to acknowledge the higher costs of living in remote areas.
Grande Cache is remote. Everything costs more, including travel, access to services and groceries, but an arbitrary line on a map drawn by a bureaucrat has excluded it. That is why residents came together to launch a petition simply asking for fair treatment. If Grande Cache were to be included, some families would save more than $1,200 annually. Real money would go back into household budgets and groceries. This is a request similar to that made by Haida Gwaii in B.C., which was reclassified just last year, in 2025.
Would the government reclassify Grande Cache into zone B under this program?