Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for social housing programs. In the more northerly communities, snowfall can be very sudden and winds can blow furiously overnight. When you wake up, sometimes there are drifts of more than six feet covering the ground to people's doorsteps. The housing authorities or the government in these communities expect residents to provide snow removal services from the access road to their homes. My question to the honourable Minister, Mr. Speaker, is the policy of removing snow on the access road applicable to the senior citizens or to the tenants who are living in public units? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my understanding that it is the Housing Corporation's responsibility to service the unit. It is the Housing Corporation's responsibility to deliver fuel and water to their units, or have it delivered by contract. So, it should be the Housing Corporation's responsibility to remove the snow. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the honourable Minister review this and perhaps communicate with the housing authorities that it is, in fact, the responsibility of the housing associations, under the system of the NWT Housing Corporation, to provide snow removal to service access roads to public units? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will look into this issue and inform all the housing associations in the Northwest Territories what the policy is. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Safety and Public Services. Yesterday, during question period, the Minister of Social Services stated that food survey costs were done by vital statistics in 1991. I'm a bit confused, Mr. Speaker, because I thought that the vital statistics division looked after registering births and deaths, and other such statistics. I didn't know they were in the consumer services business. Can the Minister clarify as to which division within the Department of Safety and Public Services did do the food survey costs?

Minister Todd.

Mr. Speaker, I'll have to take that question as notice. Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Social Services. It is with regard to the senior citizens' fuel subsidy. Mr. Speaker, I ran into a situation, where a senior was going to turn 60 during the fiscal year. But, because he wasn't 60 yet, he wasn't given fuel. I would like to ask the Minister, what are the guidelines, with regard to how a person is eligible for that subsidy? Is it when you turn 60, is it a birthday present or something? Or, is it when you turn 60 during that year?

Minister Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have

to take his question as notice. Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of MACA. Yesterday, I asked the Minister of Transportation a question and he told me, "I assure the honourable Member that I will visit Chesterfield Inlet and will move quickly to try to get the federal government to agree to transfer that gravel pile over to the municipality so they can use it for road improvement in Chesterfield Inlet." Will the Minister of MACA, then, tell the House, or at least assure my constituency, that he will ensure that road improvement funding will be made available for work to be done this summer?

Mr. Todd.

We did move quickly in identifying the gravel, Mr. Speaker, and there are discussions under way on how we will blend the federal gravel and the GNWT gravel. I have had some discussions with the mayor and the honourable Member, and it is our intention to do a road upgrade this summer in Chesterfield Inlet, yes.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, the child tax credit has replaced family allowance. The family allowance that was paid out by the Government of Canada has been deleted. Now, they work on the basis of a child tax credit. In order to receive a tax credit, one must have filed an income tax form with the Government of Canada for the previous year.

I realize that the message has probably not gotten out to all the Northwest Territories, and, as I said earlier this session, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Gargan made us aware of it, and we had the federal government do a considerable amount of advertising in this regard. Last week, at the Finance Ministers' meeting, I had the opportunity to have this discussion, with regard to Nunavut and the people there. I talked to the deputy minister of Revenue Canada about redoubling our efforts to do some work, to ensure that people know how they go about applying for and receiving the child tax credit.

He said he recognizes the problem and we will do more work to make sure that people understand that there is no more family allowance, but there is a child tax credit they can avail themselves of, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.