Mr. Speaker, this budget offers quite a few things Members of this House can get behind. One aspect in particular is investing $16.6 million in new federal funding for affordable housing projects with the intent of providing residents of the NWT with an increased number of households that are not only contemporary in all relevant safety standards, but more importantly, and all too rarely seen in the North, affordable. This is by all means a noble measure of this government to tackle the cost of living and will benefit a number of families in Yellowknife and in all our communities, but, Mr. Speaker, today I want to advocate for a taxpayer that almost seems forgotten in this budget and one that is weighed down by the cost of living more than most, the renter.

Mr. Speaker, with the cost of fuel, power, food and other amenities being drastically higher than our neighbours in the South, the cost of living in our communities is so out of control to the point that this Assembly has made it a priority in our mandate. I commend this government for attempting to accomplish this for those families that will benefit from the earlier-mentioned budget measures, but our renters are also in a difficult position and I do not clearly see what this government is doing to address this.

In our capital city, a two bedroom apartment can be priced anywhere from $1,400 to $1,900, and a three to four-bedroom townhouse runs from $1,900 to $2,500. While in Fort St. John, a northern city of similar size to the South, a one to two-bedroom apartment starts at $500 and goes to $1,000, while a three-bedroom townhouse is in the range of $1,150, Mr. Speaker. This comparison, in my opinion, is staggering and acts as a deterrent from people across the country to even consider residing in our great territory.

Mr. Speaker, there are solutions to this problem though, and made-in-the-north solutions at that, for the Yukon has just recently made great strides in addressing them. They have awarded two Yukon developers capital funding to support the construction and operation of affordable renting housing projects in Whitehorse and Dawson City. One developer will receive $500,000 to construct urban micro-apartments in Whitehorse. In Dawson City, Chief Isaac lncorporated will receive $450,000 for a 14-unit development. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted