Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no matter how you look at it, the high cost of living is a real issue for us in the North. It is simply very expensive to live in the North. Everything here costs more, and the government is doing very little to make it any easier.
Mr. Speaker, according to the 2003 Statistics Canada survey, Yellowknifers spend way more than the national average on all categories, and more than even the territorial average. Mr. Speaker, on overall household spending, Yellowknifers spend $90,000 per household compared to the Canadian average of $61,000 and $77,000 for the NWT-wide. That is about 47 percent more, Mr. Speaker. Yellowknifers spend $2,000 more on food bought from stores and $1,600 more on food bought from restaurants. That is 30 percent more. Yellowknifers spend about $7,500 more on principle accommodation, whether it is rented or owned. Yellowknifers spend almost $2,000 more on water, fuel and electricity than the national average. Yellowknifers spend almost 96 percent more on water and sewage, 65 percent more on oil and gas, 43 percent more on electricity than the national average. This was just in 2003, before we have seen the latest increases, Mr. Speaker.
I can tell you that there is a lot more where this comes from, which is a document that the government issued. It is the survey from Statistics Canada. Yellowknifers spend $1,000 on household furnishings and equipment, and we spend $1,300 more on clothing. We spend $3,000 more on recreation, $1,400 more on personal insurance and pension contributions. The big grab is that we spend almost $3,000 more on personal taxes.
Mr. Speaker, it may be that we spend more because we make more, but I am certain that, given the choice, we would like to pay less on these items and build up some savings, and I could also add that we are very generous people because we spend more on gifts of money and contributions, as well. Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you, pushing for a cut in northern residents' deduction from the federal government is just one thing, but it is about high time that this government does its part right here in the North to do something about this high cost of living. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause