Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to give an opportunity to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, to clear the air and relieve the high levels of anxiety and frustration that are currently surrounding the fate of the fuel subsidy program. To show that, as a Member of Cabinet, they do, through him, have a heart. It is filled with compassion and that he can demonstrate his noble and compassionate nature by standing up today to say very clearly to all the people waiting by their wood stoves and furnaces with the fuel running low, that in fact there will be a fuel subsidy program. They will not have to fear. The Minister has heard their concerns. Can the Minister give that commitment? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to confirm that I do in fact have a heart. Mr. Speaker, I have said on more than one occasion this week, that I am committed to working with the standing committee, the Seniors' Advisory Council and Members of this House, on redesigning the program reflecting on the fiscal realities that we face. I can say that we are definitely working to ensure that all is done to make the program available to seniors in the next year. I would point out that the program for most seniors would be winding down now, because most seniors put their claims in for the program early in the year. We are talking about a program where the demands will most likely come starting next September. The budget starts April 1, 1997/98. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would ask the Minister to consider stepping outside his role as a Member of Cabinet, when he talks in phrases such as working to ensure, which provide some comfort but little heat. To say in very simple English that yes, the fuel subsidy program will continue. Can the Minister stand and say that simply? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister may have been saved by the bell, but I have a supplementary. Can the Minister say, in simple English in his role as Minister, that the fuel subsidy program will continue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my intention to do all that I can to warm the hearts of seniors, the Seniors' Advisory Council and the Members of the standing committee. I can not commit to do anything until my budget is approved, of course, because I do not have the funds to spend. I have committed to look for areas of savings within the budget once it is approved and to dedicate those funds to ensuring this program continues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Unfortunately the only that is getting heated is the air in this Chamber. The Minister is being needlessly evasive. He is being all that he can. Will the Minister commit once his budget is passed that yes, even though the fuel subsidy is not in the budget, that he will commit to the people of the NWT, to the needy elders, that the program will be continued? With a $280 million budget he will make it happen given his noble, caring heart and his ability to handle fiscal matters with the astute way that he has demonstrated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, perhaps we should install a device to collect the hot air and use that to heat seniors' homes. I believe that the Member is asking me a question which I have already answered. I have said that I will do everything to ensure that the program is there. It is obviously too late to reprint the budget book. It is too late to address those changes now. The

department needs some time in order to rework areas of expenditure in the coming year, to ensure that we can find the monies to deliver that program. I will restate the commitment, that I will work with the standing committee, the Seniors' Advisory Council, my partners on Cabinet, and especially in the social envelope, to ensure that we have something to warm the hearts of seniors in the fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.