Thank you. Oral questions supplementary. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been called a lot of things in my time, obsessive has not been one of them, and I am obsessive on this matter, Mr. Speaker because it does concern a very great many people in my constituency and across Nunavut, across the Northwest Territories, so my supplemental question to the Minister, Mr. Speaker, is - Is the Government of the Northwest Territories prepared to

buy back these homes for the life of this assembly and afterwards, will that be grandfathered, for example, if I buy a house in 1996, and most of the houses are based on a five year mortgage and the year comes up 2001, then I move, does the Government of the Northwest Territories, the present day government have the fiduciary responsibility, the ability to guarantee a buy back when they are not actually sitting any more after April 1, 1999. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to ask the Member to rephrase, although, perhaps the Minister realised what the question is, whether or not this government has the authority beyond 1999. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does this government have the authority beyond 1999 to guarantee the said purchase of the said staff houses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If my honourable colleague is trying to wear me down, in his line of questioning on housing, I want to assure him he is actually beginning to succeed. The way I would answer that question, is, I can't commit any future government at this time to any future expenditures, all I can do is commit this one, which I have, over and over and over again.

Oral questions supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess that would give console to some of those people who would be buying staff houses and it would cause some problems for the other people. My supplemental question to the Minister concerning this area that is wearing him down is, the buy-back policy guarantees, I believe, a 90% value of the house, not the full value, for example, if I spent $160,000 for the house, the government would do an appraised value of the house and then give me the money on that. Can the Minister confirm the actual policy of the 90% value of the house, not actually the 100% value. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague it's not the policy that is wearing me down, it is him. My understanding is that this government would commit to purchasing the house for the appraised value of the house at the time of the original purchase. Thank you.

Thank you, oral questions supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this house, we have heard over the past few months that there is no new money available to this government, can the Minister inform me where this money is coming from that we buy back these houses with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Well to date, Mr. Speaker, I believe we have only bought, if my memory serves me correctly, one back, maybe two max, so if there was a requirement to buy it back, we would take it out of general revenue, thank you.

Oral questions, final supplementary, Mr. Picco, no, sorry, you have already had your final supplementary on your last question. Oral question, Mr. Miltenberger.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Good question, Mr. Speaker, an important one. I will take that question as notice to ensure that I give an accurate response to the Member and to the Constituency at large, thank you.

Thank you. The question is taken as notice. Oral questions, Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to do inspirational videos by the Minister of Finance on this housing issue and make sure that every community in the Arctic has got one. Yes, Mr. Speaker, for the um-teenth time, the buy-back policy for housing for those individuals who wish to sell it will be in place until 31st of March, 1999. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions, Mr. Picco.

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to flog a dead horse, this is a very important matter and the last day before this session. So my final question today, for Mr. Todd, Minister for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, concerns a new issue. It's staff housing, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is, in response to an earlier question asked by the Honourable Member from Iqaluit, the Minister said that there's been only two houses been bought back together, Mr. Speaker, I am aware of at least four, I wonder if the Minister can actually confirm to me, in writing, the number of houses bought back by this government over the past fiscal year.