It's going to be a long, expensive winter
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 15/00) - There's oil in them there heating tanks and in the North it is becoming more and more valuable.
That is evident in the fuel's jump in price. Currently it costs about $0.55 per litre. That's about $625 to fill an average tank that needs refilling every two to six weeks. Businesses have had to offset costs, rent has increased as has the cost of products in Yellowknife such as certain grocery items. But the organizations that cannot and will not offset costs onto the consumer are charities or non-profit organizations.
"We can't offset costs, we have no where to turn," said Capt. Al Hoeft of the Salvation Army NWT Resource Centre.
"We can give less service to the community but that doesn't really work so we can't do that."
The homeless shelter will shoulder a deficit this year because of heating oil prices. Hoeft said it is estimated that will turn into $12 to $15,000 over what they are funded by the GNWT and the community.
"We will carry the deficit and will try and find ways to make up for it as we go along," he said.
The Yellowknife Seniors Society was also forced to buckle under the heavy heating oil pressures and went to the City of Yellowknife on Nov. 20 to ask for an increase in its grant to operate the Baker Centre. "We seniors are a very independent bunch. We like to pay our own way as much as possible," said the society's president Jan Stirling.
"Unfortunately our expenses keep going up every year and the expense that has hurt us the most is the fuel increase."
The society asked for a $10,000 increase to its grant. Due to budget restraints the City offered to recommend an increase of $6,500. If additional funding is not received the seniors society will find themselves in a tough situation, one that may affect the services it offers to many seniors in the community.
Rooms in the Baker Centre are rented out three times per week and an increase in those rates would not allow them to be competitive with other conference and meeting centres in the city, Stirling said. The society could rent out space more but Stirling said it is shy of doing that.
"We walk a fine line when it comes to renting," she said. "If we rent out too often we have no time or space to deliver our programs."
As well as causing financial problems to funded organizations, businesses and the consumer, the increase in price is also making heating oil attractive to thieves. RCMP are advising the public to make sure heating fuel storage tanks are securely locked. On Nov. 6 a large quantity was stolen from a storage tank behind the Industry bar on Franklin Avenue.
