Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Premier and I met with the Sahtu people the other day in Deline, we heard leaders talk about housing. It is still in the minds of our elders, Mr. Speaker, when the government came to our communities and asked our people to move off the land and into government houses, and that they would only have to pay $2 a month for their house. It is very clear to our elders when the government told this to them. Why would people ask to move into government houses? More importantly, what was told to them and promised to my people by the government about housing?

Mr. Speaker, there are many stories about the high cost of living in a house. As a homeowner, we pay for all the costs to maintain a house. Nothing is free. As a renter in public housing, we pay the maximum rent or pay as little as $32 a month, depending if you have a job or not.

Mr. Speaker, my people in the Sahtu want jobs. Mr. Speaker, for example, a young man who graduated from Chief Albert Wright School is working with a company to build houses and lives in a one-bedroom unit and is paying $1,800 a month. Now, we have not yet added the food, household items or just entertainment. This job may last up to six months.

As you know, food prices are sky high in the North. It costs us a lot to travel outside our communities. We need to give our people, especially young people, a good chance in life. Hopefully with the recent announcement by the Minister of the Housing Corporation, we will be able to fill all of these 82 empty units in the North at a reasonable price.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is cutting back on housing money each year and the federal government says by the year 2038 there will be no more funding for housing in the Northwest Territories. What kind of government do we have in Ottawa? Don’t they know a promise is a promise, Mr. Speaker? Now we are asked to hold the bag and help our people.

I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker.