Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, I am now reviewing the Wood For Seniors Policy, as it is called, with a view to looking at improvements and, perhaps, more flexibility. I am aware that some seniors who rely on electrical heat and, also, propane and natural gas, are requesting a subsidy for

those fuels. So I can tell the honourable Member that I am prepared to look at ways in which we can meet these needs. Payments in cash is one option. I will be prepared to report back to the House on the result of that review which should be in place well before the next winter season. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that the Minister wants to expand or to look at his current policy but, the current policy I believe now allows for oil, I cannot recall the exact amount of litres, but also one to five cords of wood and I believe it now allows for propane. If he is looking at natural gas or electricity, I would like to know if he can consider, because the individual seniors who rely on these type of resources for heating in their individual's homes, will he consider both natural gas and electricity prior to next winter now that we are going into winter? Thank you.

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, the present policy only covers wood and oil. I would be pleased to consider both natural gas and electricity, as suggested by the Member, and propane as well. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Transportation. The federal government recently announced a major infrastructure of transportation initiative of somewhere in the region of $18 to $25 billion, I believe. What action has the Minister of Transportation taken to meet with these provincial counterparts to determine what opportunities there are for the N.W.T. within the transportation strategy that is in place?

Mr. Whitford. Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, there was a proposal made to transportation ministers of all provinces and territories from the federal government. It came up at the last western finance ministers' meeting and I think finance ministers were concerned about the federal government, once again, coming forward with a program and they were concerned whether the federal government was going to be there after three, four, five, six, seven or eight years.

There was a letter drafted from this western group to the federal Minister and what it outlined were some of the concerns with the new federal program that was suggested.

There was also a meeting between deputy ministers of transportation from the western provinces and the Northwest Territories. I do not think the Yukon attended. That resulted in some further clarification. So, at the present time, there has been a proposal made and there is some scepticism, to say the least, amongst people with regard to the intent of the federal government to get us on the hook and then back out of the funding later on down the road.

I might add, and I am moving in Mr. Whitford's domain here, but his department did recommend to us that the federal proposal was attractive to us, if we could get some real solid, I asked for hostages, Mr. Speaker, from the federal government, so that I would know that they were not going to pull out on us down the road. So it is still under active consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Todd.

So it is under active consideration. Do we have a paper on what we suggested to our provincial counterparts about where we fit within this initiative that is being proposed by the federal government? Is there something we can take a look at or is this some secret document that we cannot get access to?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I did not mean to mislead anybody that there was a contract and it was ready to be signed. This was a suggestion from the federal government to all Ministers of transportation across the country. There is some documentation and I would defer to the Minister of Transportation to see if he will provide it. Thank you.

Mr. Whitford.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Supplementary, Mr. Todd.

I guess the point I am trying to get at and I do not seem to be getting an answer on it is this. In our approach to our provincial counterparts the way I understand it, it was a collective provincial/territorial approach to the feds. Is it an integrated part of the transportation strategy that was developed under previous Assemblies? Is it a part of that? Is our approach fitting into the strategy or have we just done this strategy and now it is on the shelf? I want to know how we are approaching this $25 billion initiative. Is there some plan out there and are we using a transportation strategy that was developed under previous Assemblies? That is what I am concerned about.

Mr. Whitford.

Just for the clarification of our procedures, according to our precedent, the Premier has been able to pass a question to another Minister. If the Minister of Finance feels that the question is within his or her jurisdiction, I would ask that if the Minister takes the first question, that he take the next three supplementary questions, if he has to he can take them as notice. Jumping from Minister to Minister, unless it is from the Premier, causes some confusion. Supplementary, Mr. Todd.

I am not trying to be awkward on this issue, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister tell me specifically what is in the package that you presented to your provincial counterparts for the Northwest Territories. Some of us do not have roads. We want to know are there other parts in there? Is there marine development? What, within the package, did the Northwest Territories seek to get provincial support for to move forward on a collective presentation to the federal government under this $25 billion initiative. What is in it for the north?

Mr. Pollard. Ms. Cournoyea.

Just to avoid confusion, Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories has a strategy, policy and paper which has been developed over a number years, the policy of which everyone is aware. At every opportunity when we travel across Canada and attend meetings we continually represent that transportation strategy.

The issue now is what parts of that strategy can we fit into whatever it is that the Prime Minister of Canada is presenting to us, which the Minister of Finance has expressed. We are not quite sure what is in that package that the federal Minister is identifying as being the formula that is going to be used to make those expenditures. As much as possible, we do have a strategy and what we can tap from that strategy to fit into that formula. I think what the Minister of Finance was trying to say is that we are not quite sure what parts we can access taking into consideration that we do have a transportation strategy. Thank you.