Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the past three to four years, our territory has been leading Canada as the fastest growing economy in the country. We have been blessed with diamonds and petroleum development that promises to sustain us for years to come, but that superheated economic activity comes with a price, a very tangible price that we are paying as our social infrastructure struggles to keep pace. One of the most pronounced problems we face, and it isn't restricted to the city of Yellowknife, is dramatic pressure on our housing stock. Mr. Speaker, we just can't keep up with the demand. The consequence, sadly, is what used to be an affordable and relatively available housing market is virtually non-existent. It's played havoc with the lives and the pocketbooks of the low and middle income earners, the single families, the young people trying to get a start on life and the elderly trying to make for a comfortable retirement.

Last fall, two Yellowknife business people, renters themselves, told me they wanted to do something and started a petition. I was pleased that Barry Newman and Mark Zimmer accepted my offer to help and today, Mr. Speaker, I will have the privilege of tabling a petition with the signatures of 405 Yellowknifers who agree with us.

What we are seeing is a better way to end and resolve the sky rocketing costs of rent. We want this government to do more to help developers build affordable rental housing. We want all Northerners to be able to afford to live comfortably, safely and within their means and share in the amazing future we have ahead of us. When I was in the malls and grocery stores looking for signatures, Mr. Speaker, I heard more stories from families and people, young and old, about the daunting rent hikes they are facing. Increases of 10, 12 and 14 percent every year for the past three years. Grandparents forced to accommodate their own grandchildren who, as young adults, can't afford to strike out on their own. Single-parent students facing a rent bill of over $1,300 a month.

I also heard from landlords, Mr. Speaker, who need better ways of coping with problems that arise when tenants can't or won't hold up their end of the deal. Our objective, Mr. Speaker, is to get the government's attention and recognize that our 15-year-old landlord and tenant legislation just isn't helping us as we move forward into a new economy in the new NWT. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.