Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about a concern that has been brought to my attention regarding the very high rent that our teachers are paying in some of our small remote communities which is, of course, raising other issues. How will we find good quality teachers to staff our more remote communities? The lack of good quality teachers will ultimately reduce our children's level of education.

As we are aware, a few years ago, our government decided to sell off all staff housing and at the same time raised the rents to market value. This, as we have all heard, has created difficulties for teachers and other staff in our smaller communities. Often, teachers going into small communities are beginning teachers and/or have one or two years experience. In some of my communities we need three teachers and this means we need to hire a single teacher. As an example, a beginning teacher with a degree receives approximately $46,000 plus Northern Allowance of approximately $6,900. The rent for houses in Rae Lakes is $1,127 per month or more, plus electricity and other utilities. This means a single teacher living in Rae Lakes pays over $13,000 per year in rent. Which in comparison, the same teacher living in Rae-Edzo could pay as low as $6,000 per year. The only difference between these two teachers would be the northern allowance. Why is there such a difference in rent costs? It is important to encourage teachers to live and work in these smaller communities.

To emphasize this further, in my region we currently have 26 vacant staff housing units in Rae-Edzo, two houses in Rae Lakes boarded up and possibly houses in Snare Lake that will be boarded up as well. All because no one can afford to live in them. Currently, we have one staff member in Wha Ti that is living in a GNWT housing unit that the Department of Public Works and Services has condemned and is still charging $500 per month for the luxury of living in a tiny one bedroom log cabin.

Previously, staff was able to live in a unit according to the size of his or her family. If a single person was living in a three-bedroom house because no other unit was available then, that person would be charged a different rate for being over accommodated. This practice is no longer available. What can be done to ensure adequate affordable housing is available to all staff no matter where they live? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause