Well, I have a few comments and I would like to hear what the Minister has to say. This government has strongly supported home ownership now for many years and of late we've heard a lot about home ownership. We hear a lot about home ownership when we are talking about staff housing, the Housing Corporation rental review, building the economy of the Northwest Territories, encouraging less dependency in the Northwest Territories, and the whole taxation issue. I think the Minister is committed to looking at taxation in the general taxation area which is a real problem. This particular program could help encourage people in the general taxation area to perhaps accept some increases to bring that tax level up to some sort of norm.

From everything the government has said, I see this as an important initiative. At the time when this program was cut, the financial prognosis of the accumulated surplus was very bad. Although the long-term prognosis right now shows that we're quite vulnerable, the reality is the situation is not a situation that I think $350,000 is going to make a big difference to, either way. If you look at all the other good things that MACA does, this program provided some balance to all those other things and it really demonstrated to home owners that the department is behind them.

I would like to again ask, and I would like an unqualified answer, that the Minister look at the programs that MACA has to offer. And, that they look fairly and objectively at this program to see if, for $350,000, the objectives that are contained within this program might be objectives that aren't only good for the department but good for the government as a whole, to demonstrate some real commitment to the oft-stated government policy of encouraging home ownership.