Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the cost of living in Nunakput is outrageous and, you know, the Bill 60, we're going down the road that we're unable to use sups to get our backlog, I guess, in funding to try to provide service. You know, our heating fuel and gas prices across the North over the last year, heating fuel and diesel and gasoline, all gone up in Nunakput. Heating fuel has gone up 25 percent, averaging $2.46 a litre. Diesel fuel, is up 24 percent, averaging $2.75 a litre. Gasoline is average up 12 percent at the pump, averaging $2.37 a litre.
This is going to have a rippling effect, Madam Chair, in regards to food pricing across the North and especially in my riding because I always said, you know, my riding, it's almost we're penalized because of where we live. Price of food is going up. We can't afford to buy food. Nunakput has the highest food price index in the NWT. Enough money -- we don't have enough money for food. We worry about our food for our families and our relatives. The people in Nunakput are worried about having to pay for food. Almost half of the residents in Nunakput are worried to do that because they don't have enough money for food all the time, or often. We have to hunt, hunt to eat. 67 percent of households in Nunakput eat country food half the time or more. Our power prices. Our power prices continue to go up across the Northwest Territories. The cost of power in Nunakput is almost the highest rates in the NWT. For example, Sachs Harbour pays $2.02 and $0.30 a kilowatt. You know, our housing situation, I always worry, is insufficient housing is poorly and leaking energy. Residents pay for poorly built public housing that are 40-year-old plus. Housing NWT renovations in 2023 addressed only approximately eight percent of the housing needs in the region. Housing NWT will never renovate units fast enough to keep up with the housing issues and problems that we do have. Thirty percent of Nunakput houses are overcrowded. Inflation across Canada is at an all-time high, and in the NWT it's higher; higher than Canada by seven percent. Our household income in communities, Nunakput has the highest cost of living, the difference in the NWT is 18 percent of people in Nunakput are considered to live low incomes. Nunakput is over $50,000 below average for family income in the NWT but the price of all the goods and services in our region is the highest. Over ten percent of families in Nunakput live less than with $30,000 a year. 344 people in Nunakput live on income assistance. That's 17 percent. And there's little employment opportunities in my riding. Over 20 percent of people in Nunakput are unemployed.
Impact on Nunakput communities on Bill 60, the estimated total household carbon tax burden for Nunakput is average $899 for 2023-2024. And if this goes, it's 17 percent and 4 percent every year after. People in Nunakput already can barely put food on the table, find employment to earn income, to pay for heat, their power and their housing. How can we tax people that have nothing; nothing to give? Small communities can't afford the carbon tax, Madam Chair. Residents shouldn't be penalized for where we live. The GNWT is not providing enough offsets. Cost of living offset to step up is the right direction. Some people are still struggling. My elders, the single parents, the widows, the low-income residents are struggling, and us down here we don't see it because you never lived it.
Ottawa and the GNWT isn't doing our Beaufort Delta any favours. Ottawa is squeezing us financially with this tax while it imposes a moratorium and blocks resource development in my riding, and we're doing the federal government's dirty work. We should let it go to the backstop, federal backstop, then we're not painted with that brush. The GNWT has to step up. If Ottawa insists on our tax, it should impose a tax throughout the backstop. The GNWT isn't taking a meaningful control. If it has anything to do with the North, it should be paid for cleaning the air because we're at 0.05 of our carbon in the territory and across the country.
Madam Chair, the bill will impact all residents of NWT, especially those in the small communities in the High Arctic who already have the highest cost of living. Madam Chair, I oppose Bill 60. And I encourage anyone who's concerned about the raising the cost of living to impact Bill 60 to contact their MLA, like I asked.
You know, for myself, whoever supports this bill, we should almost be ashamed of ourself. The pressure you're putting on people across the territory in the small communities, it's unbearable. I see it every day when I'm home in my communities, people are struggling. And like I said before, there's no sups to bail us out for the communities.
You know, control -- I'd rather have Canada in control of this made-in-the-North. I worry. Us as Regular Members have the -- we could put this down and let the federal backstop take place. Ten percent of climate fossil fuel and diesel. We have nothing else to do use but diesel in the far north. There's no choice. Can't use sunlight; we're dark six to eight months of the year. And, you know, it's a worry -- it's really worrisome because I see families struggle and go without. And I think sometimes, you know, some of this carbon tax, I think our government worries more about the mines than our people that we represent that's why we're here. These people have no sups to help them at home and can go somewhere for money because everybody's tapped out and can't lend because they're in trouble themselves because the high impact of what we pay.
The people I represent can't afford to live in regards to where we're at and, again, we're penalized because of where we live. This Bill C-60, I don't want to go down this road. I'm in full support of killing the bill, and we're in a position where us as Regular Members could do that but, you know, some of them want to support this bill and made-in-the North, us having control. We can't control what we have already in regards to the spending and sups that we're going through. How could you take this on now? Another burden for the Minister. Let it go to the federal backstop. Let the federal government do their own work and let them do their dirty work.
I'm really -- it's really upsetting in regards to I've been worrying about this. In regards to this bill coming forward, all I could say is I did my best in regards to to try to kill the bill. And I hope these -- my colleagues on this side of the House, all Members support us in regards to killing the bill and let the federal government do their own work. And it would be a lot better because at the end of the day, what happens in this House we all got to wear it, and we'll be painted with that brush that we supported Bill 60.
And, Madam Chair, I just, you know, once this vote comes through, I want a recorded vote when the vote comes down because this is going to effect everything in the months to come. Thank you.