Absolutely, the northern factor is weighed into everything, from buying diapers and milk to housing.
As you know, my constituents go all the way up to La Loche, to the Clearwater River Dene Nation, which is 430 kilometres north of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, is the largest centre in our territory. It is approximately 330 kilometres from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which is the centre of our province. That gives you an idea of where we are geographically.
It costs about 10% more to build homes in Meadow Lake than in Saskatoon. The further north you go it gets worse and worse, with up to 30% more in the Clearwater River Dene Nation, Birch Narrows Dene Nation or Buffalo River Dene Nation, which are our most northern communities. This includes English River, as well, which is the end of the road on the other side of our area.
You see how that affects our ability to build, because instead of spending $100 you're only spending $70. As I indicated, in Meadow Lake it costs about $215,000 or $220,000 to build an average home, a plain three-bedroom bungalow—so times that by 30%. As I also indicated the funding hasn't increased in over 30 years. La Loche has about 2,000 people so with a community of that size you're probably looking at a budget of about $330,000. One house will blow your budget, and you have no money for infrastructure or renovations.
That gives you an idea.